Rebirth Through Wicked Flames
by Juwch
Summary: AU fic. Yuuta is a social outcast who believed he had special abilities during middle school. Starting high school he tried to throw away that burden in hope to switch it for a social life. And while he gets just that, it was different from what he had expected, as he gets dragged into the world he tried to release himself from. Only this time, it's real.
1. 00: The Prologue

**00: The Prologue**

She sensed it. The presence of an otherworldly creature pushing its way into her world. She grinned. If she could sense it's mana through the spells laid upon her apartment by the Priestess, it would prove to be a great fight. She couldn't sense whether it was a Demonic or Angelic spirit or even a banished ability user, but it didn't matter. All would fall before the powers of her stigma, The Wicked Eye. She got up, and quickly threw on her clothes, a dark skirt with a lacy white underskirt, a purple long sleeved shirt, a black sleeveless vest and dark brown boots. She walked towards her door stopping right before grabbing the knob. Although she had permission from the leaders of her "organisation" and of the local association of temples to fight, the Priestess didn't like it when she had to watch over the use of her stigma. Especially not when she had to wake up for it. Thinking about that she also instilled herself to limit her mana outpour during battle. If it exceeded a certain level the Priestess would surely notice and she would definitely have her locked away again.

She turned around and walked onto the balcony. She slung a rope over the edge and looked down, calculating the jump to the next balcony beneath her. Grabbing hold of the rope she leaped. She jumped over the railing, letting the rope slide in her hand. The rope started swinging back and at the exact right moment she grabbed it tightly, landing softly on the railing of the balcony beneath hers. A boy stood there, shocked out of his mind. He was about her age, slightly older physically but most likely a speck of dust in comparison to her mentally as she had the knowledge of all that held the stigma before her. She teasingly asked: "Did you see?" As he stood there with his mouth open, too paralysed to say anything, she took the time to study him a bit more. She rarely saw her neighbours, the boy even more so. He was wearing a grey parka and dark green pants. Brown hair, slightly tanned. And then she looked him in the eyes. Her brain stung and she wobbled a bit. He finally got out of his state of shock and jumped forward to catch her. She had already regained balance however and softly kicked him out of instinct. He fell, but the needle was still in her brain. It wasn't his spell then. Memories of dark and murky flames shot up.

"Who are you?", she asked.

"Togashi Yuuta", he whispered with fright clearly shown on his face.

It didn't bring any more memories and the memories of flames faded. She was still confused and now ached to set her mind on something else, and a fight would do nicely. So she jumped, leaving the boy behind.

Landing on the ground, she sprinted forward through the park behind her apartment complex toward the street. Stopping at the sidewalk as her senses regained their normalcy she turned around and looked back at the boy's balcony. He stood their scratching his head, looking around to see where she had gone. She sighed. She started to think she would never understand normal humans. She turned to the now clearly sensible mana and grinned once more. A demon would lose its powers again. And it was close by. She jogged for a couple of minutes and stopped at the grounds of an abandoned temple. Leaping over the fence she entered the forest surrounding the temple. A minute later she found where the demon was pushing against the veil that separated the dimensions. The ground had turned ash grey and veins of darkish red ran through the marked area.

She removed her eye patch to reveal her "Eye". In contrast to her normal blue eye this one was golden and every once in a while black veins jolted through it, like lightning strikes. She whispered: "Vanishment this world" and disappeared from the forest.

She stood in a cave, the trees in the forest replaced with stone pillars. And at the place where the marked area had been, stood the demon. A fire demon as she had suspected. Humanoid, but three meters long with dark reddish skin, a short scaled tail, and horns which almost circled completely, barely not scratching his own cheeks. At the very least, not yet. He wore black plate armour on his chest and green scaled pants, probably a former enemy. 3 eyes without irises or lids turned to her as she showed up in his dimension. He now had two choices, the first one was breaking his concentration on entering the Human World and restarting after fighting her or doing both simultaneously. But demons usually don't get this strong if they're dumb so he quickly turned toward the intruder, drawing his large two-handed sword and using it as a support after stabbing it into the ground.

"Well, you look like a tasty treat, human, what might your name be?" he asked rather cockily as he stood there towering over her one-and-a-half meter length.

She threw on her wickedest smile and leaned on the pillar closest to her with her eyes closed. You could say a lot about demons but they were always courteous. She, however, cared not about courtesy thus she said: "You first, small fry."

The demon gritted his teeth and angrily yelled: "I am Doxius, Captain-Commander of the Black Flock, now tell me who you are before I cut of your head!"

She sighed, it was only a Captain-Commander. What a waste of her time. It must have been because he had tried to break through nearby her that she felt it. She pushed herself of the pillar and walked back to the spot where she entered. She bit her thumb and started to accumulate mana, still not showing her "Eye" to the enemy. One drop of blood hit the floor of the cave and she released enough mana to create her weapon. The polished wood appeared in her hand and she grabbed it. A double bladed axe infused with her mana during the smithing process. It was a crude weapon, the silverisch grey blades veined with gold and black but it was hers, and she loved using it. But she didn't need it today, it was theatricality. She also loved instilling fear into her enemies. And it worked.

As soon as Doxius saw the axe he pulled his sword out the ground and screamed: "That axe! This can't be!"

She lifted her face, so he could see it, and declared: "I am Takanashi Rikka!"

The demon rushed toward her.

"Wielder of the Wicked Eye!"

The demon lifted his sword, ready to strike.

She aimed her axe at him, grinning wickedly, and said,

"And you are dead!"

A purple beam of energy shot out the tip of her axe handle and pierced Doxius' chest.

He screamed in death, anger and fear. His body crumbled and dissipated. The demon wasn't dead, his body was, his memories, his powers were. But he would embody another flame and might grow stronger. She at the very least hoped. She always loved a good fight. And if the demons or angels grew too strong, 'they' would let her loose to wreak havoc upon them.

She let her axe disappear with that happy thought, put her eye patch back on and returned to her world.

* * *

He had been putting away trash onto his balcony when a large shadow flew by the moonlight. He turned toward it only to see a girl swinging from a rope land on the railing of his balcony. He stared in both shock and awe. He didn't know what to say so he didn't say anything. He just stared at her. Fair skin, dark bluish hair, "Hell? That couldn't be natural" he thought, Light blue eyes, or rather eye, since the other was covered with an eye patch and about his age. Clothing wise she looked a lot like Sophia, a girl, the only girl that liked and joined him in his Chuunibyou syndrome. His most prominent thought however was that she was cute, stunningly so.

"Did you see?" she asked teasingly.

He didn't know what to say but then, she wobbled.

He jumped forward to grab her but only caught a foot. With his face.

He landed on his bum and heard her ask harshly "Who are you?"

Scared because he was kicked without even seeing it coming he quickly whispered "Togashi Yuuta".

And then she was gone, she had disappeared almost instantly from his sight. She had jumped, she must have… right?

He jumped up and looked over the edge of his balcony only to see nothing. He scratched his head and looked around to notice a figure that looked well enough like her to be her. She was at the street, hardly ten seconds had passed and she had crossed the park? That was a 5 minute walk! If you walked fast! He had to know who she was. His curiosity got the better out him and he rushed out of his home, after her.

He arrived at the street only to catch a glimpse of her as she cornered a road. He followed and caught up, slowly, but he did. He started to think he had imagined that she had ran so far so fast, that it was only because he had been scared out of his mind or better yet, because this was only a dream or rather, nightmare. But at that moment she stopped jogging and jumped over a 2m fence. Cleanly jumped over it! Was she a martial arts master or something? But curious as he was he followed. He crawled over the fence and followed the traces she left in the forest. He saw her at a small open place before she disappeared. Again! What the hell was she?

He ran toward the open spot where she disappeared only to see a ash grey circle with pulsing dark red veins. Was she beamed up by aliens or something!? At that moment the veins disappeared and he jumped out of surprise. On his guard he studied the area. Her foot prints never reached the grey spot so she couldn't have been beamed up… right? Where is she then? Her steps ended right there, and there was no mud on the trees so she couldn't climbed them. It was at that moment he heard a slight thud. He turned around and,

There she was.

And then there was darkness.

* * *

The prologue of my first story, yay me. Anyway, this is a slightly updated version of the actual first version. Some small touch-ups, nothing story related, just things I noticed while working on the next chapter. Also titles, so yay that. That was all I really had to say so leave a review (I like constructive criticis) and as always

Thanks for reading


	2. 01: Awakening

**01: Awakening**

Yuuta awoke with a terrible headache. He lifted himself into an upright position and then realised that he was in his own room. Had last night been a dream then? Maybe the dream was something his brain made up to explain the headache? He was wearing his pyjamas so it had to have been a dream. After all when she presumably knocked him out he had been wearing normal clothes. She wouldn't have used him as a doll… he thought. He hoped! It was probably just a dream. He was a 16 year old after all, dreaming of cute girls was normal. Combine that with his recent healing from his chuunibyou syndrome and it would all fit.

He decided to check one more thing though. He glanced through his window at the balcony, and there was no rope. He smiled, he actually had to laugh. Stress for his new high school life had actually made him believe something as ridiculous as that was true. He was laughing so hard that Kuzuha, one of his younger sisters, knocked on his door, and asked if he was alright. He wiped away a tear and got up. He opened the door and patted her head.

"Of course silly, why wouldn't I be?"

"You're so weird brother."

"No, not anymore. Left all of that behind me."

"You always be weird brother." Kuzuha said as she stretched herself to pat him on the head as well.

"That's not a compliment, Kuzuha."

He smiled and turned around to get his uniform. Kuzuha had already been in her uniform, she was starting middle school at the same time he started high school. He wanted to say something about it but she was already walking away to the living area for breakfast when he came back out.

So he yelled: "You look adorable by the way!"

She turned around, face bright red and roared: "Shut up brother!"

He quickly retreated into the bathroom and heard something smash against the door with great force. He laughed and heard a small growl of anger coming through the door.

"I'll get you back for that brother!"

"Give me your best shot!" He yelled back.

He knew she would get him back, and then he would do something to get back to her and so on and so on. That had been playing this cat and mouse game for 13 years, since the day of her birth. He always had a good relationship with his family, even during his chuunibyou days. His mother had thought it was just a phase and Kuzuha had loved teasing him about his lack of powers although he fervently kept believing he did. He smiled, realising how happy he was with his family, and soon with his new life. He got dressed in his uniform, which consisted out of a white dress shirt, tan coloured sweater, a striped red school tie, a dark blue blazer and matching pants.

He walked out of the bathroom and saw one of Kuzuha's textbooks lying on the floor. Grinning, he grabbed and walked toward the living area. Kuzuha was still a bit red and was stuffing omelette in her face.

"Aren't you going to need this someday?"

She grumbled a thank you and quickly stuffed another piece of her omelette in her face.

He grinned and greeted his mother.

"Good morning mum."

"Morning Yuuta." As she extended a plate for him. He reached out for it but she quickly pulled it away before he got it.

"Be a sweetheart and get Yumeha for me, will you?" She said with a devilish grin.

He sighed in acceptance: "Sure mom. She's in her room, right?"

"She should be."

So he walked to the girls' room and found nobody. Of course she wasn't there, why ever would she be in her own room. He sighed once more and walked to his own room. He prepared himself and opened his door.

He heard "Darke Flamu Mastee" in broken English and he was smashed on his forehead with his own sword. He grabbed the blade, lifted it of his head and said to the 5 year old at the handle:

"Yumeha, it's time for breakfast, and you should really stop playing with this stupid stuff."

"It's not stupid, it's cool!"

"It is stupid though."

"It is not! It is really cool!" she insisted.

"Fine fine." He reluctantly sighed, this was not an argument he could win anyway. "Just go get your breakfast now."

She let go of the sword and ran past him. He threw the sword into his room with the rest of his chuunibyou stuff. Maybe he should clean it out. He'll think about that later, turning around and going for breakfast.

* * *

She woke up very grouchy from the little sleep she got that night. After knocking out her downstairs neighbour she was forced to call the Priestess to help cover up the existence of the Otherworld. Who was definitely angry about her having to come out. Not that the Priestess needed sleep, but she still liked it an awful lot. What surprised Rikka more however was the reaction of the Priestess when she saw the boy.

Almost panic-struck she had asked: "Did you take him to the Otherworld with you?"

Confused she had shook her head, normal humans couldn't be taken into the Otherworld without physical contact and it was almost never done.

The Priestess had sighed in relief but then quickly returned to her normal stern expression. She slung the boy over her shoulder and started reprimanding Rikka all the way 'till home. She asked Rikka's motivations for sneaking out, and, of course, didn't listen to the answer. Whenever Rikka could interject in the preaching speech of her sister (oh yeah, did she mention the Priestess was her sister Touka?), she tried to convince her not to lock her away again. Finally budging at the apartment complex, Touka gave her another chance. They split up there, so Touka could take care of the boy, erase his memories and such things, while Rikka would returned to bed. Today was going to be an important day for her after all.

Returning to the present, Rikka scurried for clean underwear and her first ever school uniform in the mess that was her room. She luckily found some and then decided to gather the rest to throw in the laundry. She was running out of clothes and allowance to not wash anymore. She rapidly got dressed and looked at herself in the mirror. Red ribbon, dark blue blazer over a tan coloured sweater and white dress shirt, checkered red skirt and grey stockings that went up to her thighs. Satisfied enough she put on her shoes. These however, she was not satisfied about. Flat brown shoes. She longingly looked at her black army boots before sighing and leaving her room.

Touka had made breakfast and was, surprisingly, happily munching on the food. Rikka sighed again. That could only mean one thing. Her sister was going to play the big sister role.

"Good morning sis."

"Morning Rikka. Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, I guess…" hesitantly she continued, "How did it go with that boy?"

"He shouldn't remember anything" Touka answered quite harshly, but continued smoothly in her big sister role, "Anyway, with your first day of school and all, I thought I'd warn you. Listen Rikka, you're a very cute girl and there will probably be guys who'll approach you because of this. And they might not always have the right intentions so-"

"Like any of them would ever be able to do anything to me I didn't want." Rikka interrupted while laughing.

"That was going to be my point. Listen, we had to pull quite some strings to get you in this school and if you're going to be punching guys through walls chances are you're not going to be staying there for long."

"Got it sis."

"Also, try to make some friends and again please don't knock anyone out."

"Yeah yeah, could you stop whining now?"

"Rikka, don't be so haughty to me, I'm trying to be of help here."

"I know… sorry."

"Apology accepted, now, get going else you'll miss the train. Oh and don't forget your lunch." As she pointed toward the kitchen counter where a black bento box stood.

Rikka grabbed the box and while walking out the door yelled "Thanks sis!"

She stood at the very end of the platform, waiting for the train. There were a couple of people that wore her school's uniform but judging by the colour of their ribbons and ties they were all her seniors. There was one freshman girl who she had nodded to but the girl had completely ignored her. She was starting to wonder why she had wanted to go to school anyway.

She sighed and looked around again to see if she could find someone to talk to, only to see her neighbour walked onto the platform… in her school's uniform. "Crap!" was her first thought but mere milliseconds afterwards her sister's voice reminded her that he shouldn't remember anything anymore. He was looking around and suddenly noticed her, jumping backward in surprise, he knocked into the other freshman while tripping over his own feet.

Why hadn't he forgotten? Had her sister's spells failed? That couldn't be. She looked again to see if he was still noticing her, but he seemed to have forgotten her completely as he was talking to the girl he had just tripped against. The train arrived too at that moment. She sighed and got on. She wondered why it stung a bit.

* * *

He had hurried to get to the train station on time but thought he had missed the train never the less. He looked around the platform and noticed a couple of his school seniors. He sighed in relief. He took some closer looks to see if there were any freshman and saw a petite girl at the end of the platform. The girl from his dream. The dream that most definitely was a nightmare. He took a step back and tripped over his own feet, bumping into someone and pulling them to the ground too.

"Watch were you walk retard!" was said rather harshly.

He turned around to apologize but the words didn't come out. He was looking at a very pretty girl. A freshman like him, light brown hair with a pink clip in her front bangs, amber coloured eyes, and a tad bit shorter than him.

"I mean.. uh… I'm sorry, are you ok mister?" she said overly sweet.

'Mister? Never mind that! Answer you idiot!' Yuuta thought to himself.

"I'm fine, and I should apologize, I bumped into you after all." He answered finally.

She smiled: "It's okay, I'm fine too."

"I'm Yuuta Togashi, what's your name?"

"Uhm… Nibutani Shinka." The overly sweet voice answered.

"Uhm… Why are you talking in such an overly sweet voice Nibutani-san?" he asked dumbly.

"Oh you're right, I'm sorry." In a more normal tone, but there was still something of about it, like it wasn't hers. He also noticed that she didn't explain anything.

Leaving the issue, he asked: "Do you live in the area Nibutani-san?"

"Yes, but I'm not giving you my address just yet Togashi-kun." She jokingly said, "I'm guessing you live around here too?"

"Yes, I do. Do you mind me asking why you're going to a school so far away?"

"Ah, my… family has some connections in the school that's why. But if you think it's weird, there must be a special reason for you right, Togashi-kun?"

Crap, he dug himself a hole. At that moment the train arrived, giving him some extra time to think and he found an answer that might save him, although it was a lie. He couldn't exactly be honest about his chuunibyou. He chose this school because he knew no one from his middle school went there.

"My ex-girlfriend goes to the local high school and our breakup wasn't exactly pretty, because she had cheated on me and-"

"No need to explain Togashi-kun, I understand the situation. It's never fun to be in the same area as a recent ex-lover." Nibutani smiled.

"Oh do you have experience with that situation then, Nibutani-san?"

"Togashi-kun, that is not something you ask a lady."

"You're right, I guess I should apologize for digging into your private life. So, sor-"

"No need, that's what friends too after all, ask embarrassing stuff about your past."

"We're friends then?"

"Of course, what else would we be, Togashi-kun?"

"I guess you're right…"

Staying calm on the outside, but on the inside he was practically dancing. He hadn't even gotten to school yet and he had already made a friend. And not just anyone, a pretty person like Nibutani-san. But he contained his excitement.

"So Togashi-kun, what are your hobbies?"

Crap, she may not have noticed but that was a pretty loaded question for him.

"The usual stuff. Videogames, anime, manga and so on."

"You're such a geek Togashi-kun, not that I'm one to talk, I spend most of my days reading and blogging on the internet."

"Not what I had expected, to be honest."

"Everyone says that, and they don't want to believe me either when I explain it by saying I wasn't really popular in middle school and didn't have a lot of friends."

"That can't be, such a pretty girl like you?"

"So you think I'm pretty, Togashi-kun?"

"I uh… I… Yes? Unless you mind? I'm sorry, I don't really know what to say now."

'Great going Yuuta, you didn't sound like an idiot at all', he thought to himself.

She chuckled behind her hand: "Don't worry Togashi-kun, I'm just teasing you."

He sighed in relief.

Not long after that they arrived at their end station and walked the short end to school.

"See you soon, Togashi-kun" Nibutani said as they walked through the entrance.

"Wait! Where are you going?"

"A girl doesn't give away all her secrets when she just met a guy, you know. You'll find out soon enough!" she said while walking away.

He shrugged and walked to the gym where the opening ceremony was held. When the freshman representative was called Nibutani walked onto the stage. She smiled at him when she saw him. This was her big secret? He grinned. He always expects the worst.

* * *

Finally, that boring entrance ceremony was over. That haughty girl from the train station had been the freshman representative. No wonder she had looked like she stood above the rest back at the train station. She was making her way to the class room. She walked through the door to see, of course, the haughty girl standing against the window sill chatting with some girls. So most naturally, that guy was going to be in her class too.

And yes, there he was. Of course. She sighed. He was chatting with the guy behind him so he didn't see her and she quickly sat down. This couldn't be a coincidence anymore. First last night, then this morning and now he's in the same class as her? She got very irritated and started tapping her foot. Some girl next to her turned towards her but when she saw the thundercloud on the face of her neighbour quickly decided to leave her be.

From the corner of her eye she saw the haughty girl wave to the back of the class and turning in her seat she saw the boy wave back. Okay, That Is IT. She was going to get answers, and she was going to get them now. She got up and walked toward his desk.

"Who are you?" she asked in a harsh tone.

The guy behind him said: "Oh man, Yuuta, another one? You're so lucky."

"Shut up Isshiki." The boy answered "I'm Yuuta Togashi, and who might you be?" he asked her in a hard tone of voice, staring her straight in the eye.

"I'm Rikka Takanashi." She answered as her headache returned.

"Ok, Takanashi-san, what is it that you need from me?"

"You make my head hurt and I want to know why."

"I have no clue, so leave me be, will you?"

"Come on dude, she's super cute and practically confessing to you!"

"Shut up Isshiki."

At that point she noticed the whole class was staring at her, including their homeroom teacher who had just walked in. But because of the worsening headache she couldn't care less. There were no visions this time but the headache was way worse. Paralysingly so.

"I'm not leaving until I have an answ- Ahh AH" , she cringed in pain.

The home room teacher finally awoke: "Someone take her to the infirmary."

The whole class was staring at Yuuta.

"Me? Seriously? Fine."

He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out the classroom and toward the infirmary.

"Damnit, why do I always get stuck with weirdo's. I changed, I don't deserve being pulled back." he muttered. "Couldn't you have just left me alone?" he eventually asked.

"No." but that was all she could say.

"To hell with all this." He said as they arrived at the infirmary.

He dumped her on one of the beds and went looking for the nurse. The headache lessened now he wasn't so close anymore. A minute later he returned.

"The nurse is going out for a bit but she told me to give you these." He threw her a package of aspirins. He filled a glass with water, gave it to her and then sat in the chair opposite to her bed.

"Now what is it that you want from me?"

"I think someone from my previous lives knew you." She muttered.

At that point he realised. She was a chuunibyou patient.

"Get that chuunibyou bullshit away from me. I am cured, leave me be. I want a new life, not get sucked into that crap again."

"This isn't some fantasy you idiot, I am the wielder of the Wicked Eye. Doesn't that ring any bells?"

"God, shut it. I wouldn't care if you were the daughter of some king in your fantasies. It doesn't ring any bells. Fuck!"

"Fine, I'll proof it to you." As she removed her eye patch. "Now tremble before the Wicked Eye."

He stared at her like she was retarded. "You wear a colour contact? Jeez, even I never went that far."

That dense motherfucker. Fine, she'll proof it by shifting into the otherworld. Disappearing in front of him should prove her point. "Vanishment this world."

* * *

She stood in a green lush field. Oddly enough there didn't seem to be any spirits around. Even odder, she was still looking at him. Why was he here? Only ability users or people who owned spirit weapons in a five meter radius from the one who crosses should be pulled along. He should be neither! Her headache became worse. Suddenly she flew, Smashing head first into a pine tree a couple of meters away. A white wolf was transforming into a human and stepping toward the boy. "Why hadn't she sensed it?" that was her last thought before fainting.

He looked around in confusion. Where was he? He was suddenly standing in a lush green field with pine trees every couple of meters and some bushes all around. He looked at her in confusion only to see her staring back the same way. And then suddenly disappearing. He heard a heavy thud and saw her lying by a pine tree. She looked okay. At the very least it didn't look like she was bleeding.

He faced forward to see a man. Pointy chin, ridiculously white skin, red eyes, White fur all over his back and long silver hair. He wasn't wearing anything but brown leather pants and a scabbard from which he was pulling a single-edged curved blade much like a boken.

"I'm obviously hallucinating!"

"Young ability users. A perfect prey for me!" The man jumped forward, slashing downward with his sword.

Yuuta jumped backwards, breaking his fall with a roll, surprising himself by narrowly dodging the sword. His cheek was cut and bleeding though. He touched the wound and looked at his own blood.

"What the hell is this?!" he yelled. This couldn't be an hallucination anymore.

"The Otherworld, worthless human." Another voice said, coming from the same man though. He had two voices?!

Yuuta grabbed a branch that was lying around and stood up. He knew he had no chance to win. But he wasn't planning to lose either.

"Hahaha! That branch won't protect you human!" both voices said simultaneously.

They rushed him with an angled strike coming from the top right. He sidestepped, ducking under the blade and slammed the branch against the naked side of the man.

"Haha! Did a fly just land on me?" The man laughed, and he side swung his sword.

Yuuta was still off balance because of his strike, so he couldn't dodge. He had one choice or rather hope. He quickly turned toward the blade, held the branch vertical and put his other hand at the top to increase its stopping power. He hoped. He clenched his eyes and felt a force pushing down on his arms.

"What!?" The first voice yelled, with the second voice following: "How could a branch stop our sword?"

Yuuta opened his eyes, and looked in confusion to the branch. The side that had stopped the blade was on fire. Black fire? The flames didn't feel hot to the hand that was gripping the branch.

The man had recovered from his confusion and came toward him once more with a diagonal strike. Yuuta deflected and let the sword slide down leftward, creating an opening. He smoothly followed up with his own diagonal strike from the top right, which the man dodged. He saw the man grit his teeth. Yuuta decided. He'd figure out what the flames were, why he knew how to swordplay and all of that later. First, he'll survive.

"Ready for the real fight now?" he asked the man.

"Don't get cocky now human." They clashed.

The man stepped forward side swiping.

Yuuta blocked the strike and forced the blade to the ground. He stepped in closer and jolted his elbow upward, hitting the man on his nose, sending him stumbling backward.

Whilst stumbling backward the man slashed upward, preventing Yuuta to follow up and delivering another cut on the boys cheek.

They retreated, and retook their positions. The man was bleeding quite heavily from his nose, which looked broken. Yuuta could taste his own blood on his lips that had been steadily running down his cheeks. Nevertheless he grinned. He was enjoying himself, this was exactly like how he had dreamed to be not even a year ago.

They rushed each other again, Yuuta taking initiative this time. He stabbed toward the abdomen of the man.

The man easily deflected, that was however part of Yuuta's plan, using the force of the deflection he spun around completely, dropped on one knee and swung at the man's front leg.

The man pulled his leg back, positioning himself to stab his sword between Yuuta's shoulder and neck.

Yuuta rolled sideways, got up quickly and hastily made a downward swing toward the man's now unprotected neck.

The man stole his trick, lowering himself on one knee, raising his sword and supporting it with his other hand. They struggled for a while until the man pushed the branch to the side making Yuuta stumble forward and past him.

Yuuta quickly turned around and took his position again. The man stood in position three meters away from him.

"You're not bad human, you've surprised me quite a bit actually."

"Same to you, and believe me you're not the only surprised one."

Now that that was said, they started approaching each other carefully. When they were only a meter apart they started exchanging strikes.

The man stabbed toward his chest, Yuuta knocks the sword sideways and steps in for a stab himself.

The man side steps, lunging at Yuuta's unprotected back. Yuuta rolls forward to dodge.

Spinning around while getting up, he side slashed, knocking away the sword that tried to follow up.

The man was too close to attack with the branch, so Yuuta made a fist and tried to land an uppercut. The man rolled with the punch negating most of it and stretched his legs whilst falling backward, kicking Yuuta in the chest.

With the air slammed out of his lunges Yuuta flew backward and rolled to break his fall. He ended on his feet and rushed forward with an overhead slash. Narrowly blocked by the man still getting up, Yuuta didn't let the clash last by smashing his knee upward into the man's nose (again!). The man slammed against the ground.

He however quickly side swiped his legs knocking Yuuta to the ground as well. Both rolled away from the other before getting up again.

The man could not breath through his nose anymore and was heavily breathing through his mouth. Yuuta tasted blood in his mouth and was pretty sure he broke at least one rib.

They were both struggling now.

They rushed once more. Yuuta aimed a stab at the man's heart, which got deflected. Yuuta kept his momentum however and bashed his shoulder into the man's ribcage. With the air knocked out of him, the man slammed into the ground. And kept lying there.

Yuuta stumbled toward him. A big blue bruise was showing on the man's chest, probably had a broken rib too. Yuuta kicked the sword out of the man's hand and placed the burning branch at the place where his heart should be.

"Wait, wait!"

Yuuta stopped.

"Keep my sword, it deserves a new master. Then I'll be able to find you when I've been reborn as well and we can play a round 2. 't was a good fight, human."

"It was. My name is Yuuta Togashi, will you give me the honour of knowing yours?"

"My name is Heliath." The man said before coughing up blood.

"Goodbye Heliath. I shall remember that name." and he pierced the man's chest. A green light shot up to the sky.

He grabbed the scabbard and picked up the sword. The flames on the branch extinguished. He looked around for the girl and saw that she was only lying a couple of meters away. Holding the scabbard in one hand and using the branch as support in the other one he practically limped there. He fell on his knees and shook her shoulders, she didn't wake up. He called her name, she didn't wake up. And then he poked her. She shot upright and looked at him angrily. She then saw the corpse behind him and looked at him again but this time in disbelief.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

She stared at him. He had cuts on his cheek and blood was trickling out his mouth. And he asked her that question?

Before she could answer however, he fainted and fell over sideways. He was still breathing, but scared to touch him because of his wounds, she let him sleep there. She got up to check the corpse. An angelic animal spirit. Most likely only Private class, maybe Sub-lieutenant class. Still, too much too handle for a normal human. She looked at the sleeping boy.

What exactly was he?

* * *

The first chapter of the story, revised edition. Some small touch-ups, nothing story related, just things I noticed while working on the next chapter. Also titles, so yay that. That was all I really had to say so leave a review (I like constructive criticis) and as always

Thanks for reading


	3. 02: Decisions In The Dark

**02: Decisions In The Dark **

"Don't forget, you're stronger than any of them…"

The whisper lingered as he clawed his way out of the darkness of his own consciousness. Yuuta opened his eyes and sat upright as memories flooded his mind. He remembered the fight, the girl, the forest and all the rest. Panic started welling up but he pushed it down. With calculated, slow movements he checked his body for wounds.

There were none. That's impossible! He had clearly felt the cuts on his cheeks, the bruises on the rest of his body, his broken rib. He patted his chest multiple times. It didn't hurt.

"We're still in the OtherWorld. Your mana heals wounds inflicted here. You had a punctured longue 'cause of your broken rib. If this had been the real world you would have been in the hospital, and they would not be sure if you could've have survived that."

The girl stood a bit further next to the corpse he created. He… Created? He killed… Yuuta had to strain himself not to puke.

"Don't worry. You haven't actually killed them."

"Huh?"

"These creatures don't actually die. I'll explain in a minute. First, how did you beat the angel?"

"Angel?"

"This thing." as she pointed to the corpse.

"I… don't know… I…"

How did he do it. His memories were a bit fuzzy. Like there was a filter over it. Like they weren't his. He tried to push through the filter and succeeded. The memories came back very clearly now and he was shocked. What did he do? He acted really out of character just then. Normally he would have ran. Who in their right mind would fight against that man. He remembered talking to the person at the end of the fight. Why did he wait when he was called on? The conversation didn't make sense either. 'Reborn'?

He then noticed that the girl, Rikka was it?, was staring at him.

"Uhm… I… Uh… grabbed that branch there, and then I fought him with it. But the branch was on fire, black flames, does that make sense?"

"Black flames? That doesn't make sense. There's never been a black manifestation as far as I know."

"Manifestation? What the hell are you talking about!?" Yuuta said, as he felt his anger return.

"Calm down. Fine, fine, I'll explain." Rikka answered annoyed.

"I'm listening, start talking." He coldly said. He was starting to get tired of this nonsense of hers.

She looked at him angrily but there was something in his expression that didn't look like it was his. Something twisted, something that made her want to obey. She shook of the feeling and started her explanation.

"First of all, we are currently in an alternate dimension that mirrors ours. Like the other side of a coin. In this world 3 'types' of creatures naturally exist. Demons, Roamers and Angels.

All these creatures were originally roamers, or with one soul, these usually fight between each other and never try to attack us or cross over in our world. When they fight between each other, the winner will steal the soul of the loser.

Those left soulless become demons. Weaker than both others, they grow in strength by fighting and training among each other. They also unite in Flocks and then Armies to have a stronger position against their enemies, us and angels. We use demon army ranks to classify all creatures by comparing their strengths. That angel you beat was a new-born and still rather weak so he was probably Sub-lieutenant rank. Back to demons, when they die their objective knowledge retains and waits to be reinhabited by a soul from a defeated angel.

Those with two souls become angels, haughty pricks that think they're better than anyone. One of the souls reconstructs themselves as the body and the other becomes the primary mind, that makes decisions. That's why they have 2 voices. While they hardly fight between each other, they fight demons, to consume their bodies and increase their strength. When they die, the primary mind will search a demon's knowledge and be reborn as a new roamer. The body decomposes and the soul links with the element in which it died also creating a new roamer."

His brain readily accepted the knowledge. It was like he had already known.

"Why do demons and angels want to cross over into our dimension?"

"Simply put, the air."

"The air?"

"Yes, this world's air is void of mana, regenerating mana here is purely done from your body's energy and tires you out. Our worlds air is filled with mana, and easily converted in our own. Humans don't grow from consuming mana, 'they' do."

"Is there anything else I need to know?"

"Uhm… oh yeah. While it's comparably easy to let your mana flow outside your body here, it's immensely difficult in our world. When you wish to make use of your mana it is still advised to make a small cut or something that bleeds. Mana uses the same system as blood to flow through your body, thus by letting a wound bleed you're also releasing mana constantly."

Huh… so if I do this, Yuuta thought as he bit his index finger. He then smudged some of his blood on the boken. She kept an eye on him and wondered what he was trying. And then the sword vanished.

"How do you know how to seal weapons? Can you resummon it too?"

"Sure", the sword reappeared this time around his waist where it's supposed to be.

"Don't ask me how I do it though… It just felt natural."

She looked confused but continued nevertheless.

"Now about those 'flames' of yours. They weren't actually flames. They were an outward manifestation of your mana. The colour however, I do not have an explanation for. The manifestation of mana takes the colour of the element or elements that you align with. Mine for example is a dark purple, as before I got the stigma, I was most aligned with the sun, sky and fire, giving me a bright purple. When the Wicked Eye increased my strength to handle all elements however the colour darkened."

His brain went in overdrive. That could only mean…

"That means you are aligned with everything, and thus also nothing."

He was void. Unaligned. He didn't belong anywhere. He stood in the middle.

"You probably just couldn't encompass what happened and didn't register the colour correctly though. Like I said, as far as I know, there hasn't been anyone with black mana, ever."

"What so I'm dumb?"

"No… maybe? How would I know I met you not even an hour ago!"

"Well yeah but… wait, how much time passed since we left the classroom?"

"30 minutes? Why?"

"Great, who knows what the fuck the rest of our class will think we did!"

"Why are you so worried about what others think?"

"Because I have a past with being a social outcast, and I don't want my high school life to mirror my middle school one."

"I'm a social outcast too, in fact it's the first time I go to school today!"

"Exactly! You don't know what feeling alone is like. You can't feel lonely when there's no one around!"

"What kind of logic is that?!"

"Doesn't matter, get me outta here."

"Why do you need my help mister natural?"

"Oh fucking ladidoo. Fine, I'll do it myself."

Yuuta closes his eyes.

"Yeah, you're not going to succeed, you know that right?"

"Vanishment this world."

And they were back.

"What?"

"Now, I'm going back to class. Don't follow me, come in like 15 minutes or something, got it?"

He turned around and left. She ran after him.

"Wait. Wait! Wait DAMNIT!"

"What is it?" throwing her a cold stare.

"I think you might be important. Either way, you're going to need help or training else your mana will go out of control."

"Ha, funny that. And you're going to be the one to train me? I beat the thing that knocked you unconscious so…"

"First of all, that was a surprise attack that shouldn't have happened, I should've sensed him. Second of all I think that it was because of you."

"What? Was I so strong that you couldn't sense anything else like in manga?"

"No, 'cause after I woke up I could feel everything again."

"Then it's probably because you're stupid. I'll train myself, I don't need you. I am mister natural after all, aren't I?"

She gritted her teeth. "That won't always work idiot!"

"When it stops working, I'll be sure to knock on your door first."

"You don't get it, you might hurt friends and family."

They had arrived at the classroom but Yuuta halted in his tracks. "What?"

"Your mana running rampant may hurt your family."

"How?"

"Several ways, the most important one being that large amounts of mana may attract 'them'."

A slight pause.

"I'll think about it."

"Sure, but don't say I didn't warn you."

He opened the door and walked back to his seat after apologizing to their homeroom teacher, Nanase Tsukumo, and she followed suit.

"Welcome back Togashi-san and Takanashi-san. We were just picking the class representatives. Nibutani-san was already chosen."

"Well, I wouldn't mind being the second one, sensei." Yuuta proclaimed.

"Very well. Any objections from the class?"

No reaction except some grumbling from the guys.

"And you, Nibutani-san?"

"No, I would gladly have him by my side."

"Goddamnit Yuuta." Isshiki silently proclaimed, while the rest of the guys looked rather stingy.

"Would you rather do it, Isshiki?"

"No way man, you're probably the only guy who could keep a cool head around her… you're not-"

"No way, don't even finish that sentence. Besides, you've probably haven't even seen me talk to her yet. Believe me, everything I say makes me sound like an idiot."

"Can't be that bad, she digs you, at the very least I think, now get your ass up there."

"Yeah 'cause you're an expert, aren't you Isshiki." Yuuta said as he stood up leaving Isshiki behind grumbling.

Yuuta took his place next to Nibutani.

"Give your class representatives a round of applause now."

A polite applause rose up.

"Now, I'll see you two after school, because you're both new to this I believe?"

"Yes, sensei." They answered simultaneously.

* * *

The rest of the day passed without further incidents. At the end of school.

"Togashi-kun, are you ready to go to the faculty office?

"Sure, Nibutani-san. See you tomorrow Isshiki."

"Later Yuuta."

They left the classroom.

"So… how are you enjoying your high school life so far Nibutani-san?"

"I don't really feel any different compared to middle school. But you have been enjoying yourself quite a lot haven't you?"

"I guess, Isshiki is not a bad guy. You'd probably like him too, although he's super scared of you."

"Scared? Sounds… fun. Well introduce me to him tomorrow. But that was not what I had in mind when I said you were enjoying yourself."

"What did you mean then?"

"Your little… 'escapade' with Takanashi-san?"

"Nothing happened!"

"Oh really? You guys were gone for quite a while, and your clothes look pretty dishevelled to me."

"Nothing happened. The nurse had to go out so I had to watch her while she rested after taking some meds. There's nothing between me and her. Absolutely nothing."

"Okay okay, got it. That's… good." She said with a smile.

"Good? Why?" he suspiciously asked.

"No reason. At least as far as I will tell you."

"You're teasing me again aren't you?"

"Maybe. Maybe not."

To Yuuta's regret the conversation was cut short because they had reached the faculty room.

"We're here Sensei."

"Ah, my new class representatives. How was the first day of high school?"

"Great, but exhausting." Nibutani answered.

"Well I'll keep the explanation short then. If you have any questions you can always come ask anyway."

They left 15 minutes later.

"For a short explanation, that was pretty long." Nibuntani said.

"Yeah, I guess. Say Nibutani-san, would you like to go grab a bite to eat before taking the trains back?" Yuuta asked with all the courage he could muster.

"Sure! Is what I would say, but I can't. I need to be somewhere, family business."

"Oh.. okay." The answer came as his shoulders slumped.

"Don't act so dejected. Let's meet up at the station tomorrow morning for breakfast?"

"Yes, I'd like that! I mean, sure. Whatever."

"Jeez Yuuta-kun, shouldn't you be an actor or something?" she said while bursting into laughter.

"Yuuta-kun?"

"Ah yes, sorry it felt natural I guess. Do you mind?"

"No, no, but we just met today. First name basis is a little fast… right?"

"Who said you could use my first name, Yuuta-kun?"

"I… I can't?"

"You can call me whatever you like." She winked and turned around, leaving a baffled Yuuta behind.

"Are you sure?" he finally yelled after her fading figure.

"Just call me by my first name, you oaf." She said while glancing over her shoulder. She looked a bit embarrassed.

"Okay, see you tomorrow then, Shinka-san." Yuuta yelled.

She merely responded by waving over her shoulder.

* * *

She stood in front of a rather large crowd of middle aged men and women, in the middle of a dimly lit semi-circular room. Although she wore a tight business suit like outfit, she felt very out of place and uncomfortable. So uncomfortable that she didn't even try to be polite against them.

"Alright geezers, I'm here to report on the devil brat."

"Nibutani Shinka-san, I presume. I had expected more of your demeanour." A deep voice from the shadows said.

"Well, I'm sorry. I can also not give the report, if that's what you'd like?"

"Nibutani-san, because of your position you have certain… benefits. But that attitude is not something we appreciate." A female voice responded.

"Now, state your report." A voice, like nails scratching a school board, said.

*cough* "Fine. Here is my report on Takanashi Rikka.

She seems normal enough. As you are all aware of her stigma is hidden behind an eye patch. Because of her lack of social skills, she has little to no contact with the rest of the class. The sole person I saw her communicate with is a boy with the name "Togashi Yuuta", who I befriended as well. Their relationship worries me however."

"We don't have time for the love-sickness of a teenager." A silky voice said.

"That was not my point. She stated that he made her head hurt, which can be a result of recalling sealed memories. She collapsed and he took her to the nurses office. Where I suspect she crossed over and took him with her as I couldn't sense her anymore for a while. I couldn't get out of class on time to follow them, however when she returned, I could sense a second presence, small and weak, but it was there and traced it back to him.

I suspect he may be one of that… 'thing's servants as well, and the headaches were caused by her remembering his predecessors. Either way he needs to be trained and maybe even controlled. I plan on inviting him to that club and find out more about him."

"This might be a problem." The scratchy voice said.

"No no, unless he is 'it' himself we need not worry. She can tie any of his servants easily. Remember, she was the one who eventually beat him as well." The silky voice said.

"As far as we know. They never tell us enough." A second woman said.

"Very well. Nibutani-san, you may proceed with your plans. We will expect a bi-weekly written report on the boy, and if anything out of the ordinary happens, report it to your master immediately. You are dismissed." The scratchy voice said.

She bowed and walked away. As she left the room she could hear a discussion flare up. She doesn't care however. She was thinking about him.

What would he think when he knew who she really was.

Would he still want to call her 'Shinka-san'?

A heavy sigh escaped from her mouth. Maybe love-sickness had something to do with it after all. But that didn't matter. She was going to be the strongest.

Then she could cut her ties with this whole thing that hung over her since her birth.

Then she could finally have that normal life that she always wanted.

Would she want to however, after dragging him down into this?

No no, she wasn't to blame. It was that girls fault.

She could always take him with her when she escaped.

Why did she care about it so much though? She only met him today. Guilt?

Probably.

Another sigh.

I'll put him out of my head for now. I'll face the problems when I get there.

Though I wonder.

Would he be thinking of me too?

* * *

The second chapter of the story, revised edition. Some small touch-ups, nothing story related, just things I noticed while working on the next chapter. Also titles, so yay that. That was all I really had to say so leave a review (I like constructive criticis) and as always

Thanks for reading


	4. 03: A Pink Coloured Life

**03: A Pink Coloured Life**

"Why are you here?"

His mood was already ruined. He had hardly slept in anticipation to the morning. But then this happens.

"I asked you something. Why the fuck are you here?"

She threw him a sideway glance. "To protect you."

"No. No! Leave. Now. Don't follow me. I'll see you in school. I have to be somewhere."

"I can't do that."

"Haha, yes, you can. Here, let me help you." He grabbed her by her shoulders, turned her toward the stairs and gave her a push so she stumbled up a step.

"Now simply follow those stairs, until you get to your apartment and wait there 'till it's time to get to school."

"You're not thinking I'm going to listen right?"

"You're not thinking I'll let you invade every second of my life are you?"

"And you're going to stop me?"

"Well… I guess?"

"You won't even be able to touch me if I didn't permit you to."

"Shut up! I don't need to hear that from a little girl like you."

*THUMP* A fist dug its way into Yuuta's stomach.

"I dislike when people call me little."

"I dis… like being… spied on." Yuuta answered trying to regain his breath.

A heavy sigh. "Fine." And with that she walked away.

"Watch out for that woman though. She's more like me than you'd like."

"Wait, what do you mean by that?"

"You'll find out… eventually."

"Are you calling me stupid again?"

"I am going to go now, but that wasn't the point I was trying to make. Idiot." And she left.

A sigh of relief.

He started scratching his confidence and courage back together that had shattered because of her appearance. He already was sleep deprived, he couldn't go half-assed about this… meeting. Date. Appointment. I hope it's a date. Does she think as it's a date?

Probably not.

He slapped himself in the face.

"Man up Yuuta, you goddamn wuss." He said to himself.

He started walking downstairs and checked his phone for the time. He had some left. Should I go buy something for her? I don't know what she likes though. Maybe flowers? That might be a bit too much. I'll just go and see, I guess.

She was sitting on a bench in front of the station. He's late, she thought, while absentmindedly kicking her legs. Suddenly there was some form of commotion at the other end of the square. Squinting her eyes she could see him push through the people in the rather crowded square.

She got up and brushed the dust of her skirt. He had finally reached and looked positively miserable.

"Sorry, I'm late." Late, yet he hadn't found an appropriate gift so he doesn't even have an excuse.

"Doesn't matter, but now I have a reason to force you to pay for me though."

"Uhm… ok."

"I know this café just around the corner. Ridiculously expensive. But pretty good food." She said with an evil grin.

"Ridiculously expensive and pretty good don't trade off that well, don't you think?" He tried to bail out.

"I think so too, but you're paying, so I do not care." She started tugging at his arm. "You're not bailing out on me after making me wait for so long."

"I was only 10 minutes late, that's not that long."

"I was half an hour early."

"Why?"

"Because I didn't want to be late, Yuuta-kun."

"You're really holding that against me are you?"

"Of course. You should never ever make a girl wait."

"You were half an hour early, how was I supposed to know? According to the internet, girls take a lot of time to get ready so I thought I had some room to flex in."

"They do, but I had little sleep and was up early."

"I still say that I couldn't possibly have known."

"Well… I guess that's true somewhat… like five percent."

"Five percent…?"

They arrived at the café and their conversations was temporarily halted to greet the waitress. She took them to a table and gave them a menu. To Yuuta's relief the prices were rather reasonable.

"I wasn't going to pluck you, you know." She said putting down her menu.

"I didn't think so either, but… you never know." He said in an embarrassed tone.

"For now, let's do this." She held out her phone.

"Do what?"

"Exchange emails you doofus."

"Ah right… uhm… can we not right now?"

"Yeah so you can make me wait another half hour next time?"

"But… I… uh…"

"Can I take your order?"

Yuuta sighed out of relief, earning him a crippling glance from Shinka. They quickly ordered.

"Now, give it to me."

"Huh? Give what?" acting as if his nose bled.

"You didn't think such a little interjection would make me forget what I was doing, right? I'm pretty sure we already established who the dumber one was here."

"That's mean Shinka-san. Fine fine, I'll give it to you."

He extended his phone and they exchanged addresses. However,

"Divine exseed freya magna?" (Yuuta's mail address is divine-exseed-freya-magna .jp)

He acted like he didn't hear it.

"That sounds like a lame special move name."

Still no reaction, although he started sweating profusely.

"DIVINE EXSEED FREYA MAGNA." She yelled, scaring the waitress who was bringing their food and pulled the owner out of his day dreams.

"Please don't yell it anymore! Please!"

"Why do you have such a lame mail address, Yuuta-kun?"

"Uhm…"

"Yes?"

"I thought it sounded cool…"

"Oh so you made this address when you were a three-year-old?"

"Not exactly… more like three years ago…"

"Whaa… Yuuta-kun really is a geek."

"I'll change it, give me a second!"

"No no, keep it. It's refreshing to know someone who's so open about themselves."

"That's because I suck at lying."

"That's not necessarily bad."

"It's not good either!"

"At the very least it means you can be trusted, in contrast to some other people…" she murmured the last part.

"What?"

"Nothing. Let's start eating before the food's cold." Her expression rather solemn.

He decided to drop the subject. He grinned sheepishly and dug in after yelling "Itadakimasu!" in a childlike tone, which yielded a small snicker from the girl.

"You're a great guy Yuuta."

"How would you know? We met each other yesterday."

"So you don't think so?"

"What I'm saying is, that people act."

"Huh?"

"Well, you act differently around other people. We only recently met, so we're still looking for what personality to assume around each other."

"So you're not the real you?"

"Well, I'd like to think I'm an honest person, but I keep secrets and act around you, to get you to be my friend. Just like how you act around me. I'm sure the Shinka I'll know in a month is different from the one I'm here with now."

"So who are you underneath the mask then? I'm curious now."

"I guess you'll have to find out."

"And how would I do that?"

"Being my friend for a start."

"And if I don't want to be friends?"

"Then you'll know me as a very cynical and sarcastic person."

"Isn't that who you really are?"

"Only around people I dislike."

"Hmm… you're quite wise Yuuta-kun."

"You spend a lot of time on the internet as well, don't you? I'm sure you knew this already."

"So… would you still want to be my friend if I didn't act?"

"Depends on whether I like being around you then or not."

"We'll see then?"

"That's kinda the point."

"Whaa… Yuuta made me feel dumb. Now I feel bad."

"Oi, no reason to be that cruel Shinka-san. I ranked pretty high on the entrance exams as well."

"But not first."

"Who cares?"

"I do. That's why I was number one."

"Are you always such a show off?"

"Only around people I want to impress."

"After yesterday, you'll need a whole lot more than that to impress me." He sighed.

"See! You did do something to Takanashi-san!"

"I did not! Why is that even you're conclusion!?"

"What else could have been more impressive than having breakfast with me?"

"Magic?" he answered grinning foolishly, it wasn't that far of the truth anyway.

"You're kidding, right?"

"Yeah. I just meant overall, yesterday was very surreal for me."

"How so?"

"So much changed for me, but I don't feel any different."

"Before you adjust to these changes, there'll be new ones I'm sure. I have this feeling you're very good at getting yourself into messes."

"Aren't we funny? Hope you have a good time watching it from the side lines."

"Naturally."

He glared at her while she was laughing loudly. They had some small talk while quickly finishing their meal as it was almost time to go. Leaving the café they were in for a surprise though.

"Takanashi-san?" Nibutani asked.

"Oh great. I thought I said not to follow me!" Yuuta said.

"I didn't. I just got here."

"Then why are there leaves and branches stuck in your hair and an obvious hole in the hedge at the window where we sat?"

"Magic?"

"Goddamnit." He chopped her forehead.

"That hurt." she said blandly.

"No it didn't you liar."

"Yuuta-kun, just let it go. Takanashi-san, will you join us?" Nibutani said.

"I guess I will."

And that was the start of the most awkward trip to school for Yuuta ever.

He was flanked by both girls, who were glaring at each other the whole trip. He just couldn't get it. This was something he dreamt of for a long time, and yet it felt more like a nightmare.

"Couldn't they just get along?" he begged the gods when they finally arrived at school.

And on cue.

"Nibutani-san, I don't appreciate you being so close to Togashi-kun."

"Jealous Takanashi-san? Don't worry, Yuuta is just my friend."

Yuuta started looking positively sour, until she followed up,

"At the very least, for the moment still."

"I don't have any interest in him."

"That's why you followed him when we met up, and dragged him out of the class yesterday?"

"That's… secret."

"That's not suspicious at all. But aren't you being a bit cruel to him? This must be really awkward for him."

"Like I care!"

"If you say so, then leave us be."

"I can't."

"You don't want to is what you're saying, right?"

"Class is starting, let's just go." Yuuta interjected, trying to break the girls up.

"Fine!" They both answered.

With a deep sigh Yuuta followed the girls inside.

* * *

"Yo Yuuta, see you got yourself some company this morning."

"Thank god I escaped from that."

"Escaped? That must have been a dream come true."

"It was not, Isshiki. Well… the first part was but when Takanashi-san joined, things went bad quickly."

"Oh? Do tell."

And Yuuta told his story.

"HahahaHAha!" He burst into laughter.

"It's not funny!"

"But it is! You're probably the only guy here that wouldn't be happy if Nibutani and Takanashi were fighting over them."

"It sounds fun in theory, but in reality it isn't. Girls are fucking scary, it seemed they'd try to kill each other at any moment."

"Yeah, that would be regretful. They're too good looking to lose. How 'bout this, you take Takanashi and I'll comfort Nibutani."

"Yeah, that's not going to happen. Remember, you can't even talk to her without stuttering."

"Shut up!"

"Which reminds me, Nibutani wanted to meet you, want to join us for lunch?"

"Uhhh… sure man. I'll try."

"Don't worry, you won't be third wheeling. I have this feeling we're going to be a car anyway." Yuuta said whilst pointing over his shoulder to Rikka.

"Yeah, yeah. Have your laughs. Just you wait, by the end of this year, I will be dating the most beautiful senpai we have!"

"Yeah right, have you actually talked with anyone but the guys?"

"I did."

"Our teachers don't count either."

"I didn't."

"Wow… never thought I'd be a cooler kid than… well anyone."

"You're still a geek though. What was your address again? Divine Exc-"

"Ok got it, you can shut your face now."

"Oh, did I hurt your widdle feelings?"

"Don't get condescending. Else you can forget about lunch."

"Fine fine. You ass."

"Oh shut it, I know I'm amazing. Class is starting anyway."

* * *

"Shinka-san, Isshiki Makoto. Isshiki Makoto, Nibutani Shinka."

"Ni- Nice to mee- meet you, Nibutani-san."

"Nervous Isshiki-kun?"

"Very much so."

"Why?"

"Because you're… wa- wait, that's a trap right?"

"Yeah, get used to it, she does that a lot." Yuuta interjected. Nibutani started giggling.

"You know me well, Yuuta-kun."

"I'm just happy you have one more victim right now."

"Wait wait wait! You guys are on first name basis?"

"Yeah?" "Yes?" they simultaneously answered.

"Are you guys like… dat- dating?"

"I don't think so? Did this morning count as a date, Yuuta-kun?"

"We were disturbed by Takanashi-san so I don't think so, speaking of which… Takanashi-san? Would you like to join us instead of only listening in?"

"I wasn't listening in! But thanks for the invitation."

"That's right. You guys had breakfast together this morning." Isshiki said while Rikka joined them.

"Yeah, but nothing happened between them." Rikka said.

"See! You were spying on us!" Yuuta exclaimed.

"I was not. I just happened to notice it."

"Yeah, like you just happened to be at a café at the exact opposite from the way to the station from our apartment complex."

"Wait, Yuuta-kun, you and Takanashi-san are neighbours?"

"Yeah, she lives above me."

"That's an unfair advantage."

"They really are fighting over you it seems." Ishikki whispered to Yuuta.

"Yeah, but at least one of them has an outside motive."

"What do you mean?"

"When of them is insane. Let's just keep it at that."

"Why are you so secretive? You don't talk about your past either."

"Reasons, you wouldn't care, believe me."

"We're friends, I care… but I do feel inclined to say no homo."

"Thanks?"

"What do you think Yuuta-kun?" their secret conversation interrupted.

"Think of what?"

"Weren't you listening?"

"No?"

"Never mind then. Jeez, you should really listen to me when I speak, since I'm so much smarter than you."

"Are you trying to suffocate us with that massively inflated ego?"

"If I said yes, what would you do?"

"Search for a needle."

Glare. Two glares?

"Takanashi-san, why are you glaring at me?"

"I have my reasons."

"Mind telling me them?"

"I would mind."

"Could you stop?"

"Sure." And she got up and left.

"Uh… Ok then? Shinka can you maybe explain?"

"If you wish to know you'll have to ask her. But later she might kill you if you go now."

Sighing, Yuuta turned to Isshiki and asked: "Happy you joined us for lunch?" making the others laugh.

"Anyway, let's eat."

* * *

The three demons she had just fought were disintegrating. She came here to get rid of her anger, and those three were the victims she found. Their bodies completely mutilated, her angry had not disappeared.

"Damn him to hell. Why doesn't he listen!"

She ran off, searching for more victims, more blood to spill. His powers had grown already. He hadn't done any training, but he had grown. It didn't make sense.

If this continues he really will end up hurting someone. But he doesn't listen. He's too damn busy trying to get into that girls pants.

Ah well… if he grows strong enough, and he ends up hurting someone, she'll at least have an excuse for turning him into a corpse.

His existence concerned her though. Someone that grows stronger without needing to train. Someone she knows from before this life. Those things aren't the greatest combination. They usually indicate exiled users. Or family members of those users.

The words from her sister too on that night. The panicked questioning whether she had taken him with her top the Otherworld. There was something special about that boy. She feared she might have set something terrible free. Something strong enough to make her sister panic. To be honest, underneath the madness of her stigma, she was scared. She had never been scared before.

And it was fear she was now fighting. It hung over her like a dark shadow. She needed to prove she was the stronger one. So she searched and killed, killed and searched. Many a demon and angel had fallen to her, and that won't end anytime soon in this life, or the next.

Her axe slammed into the skull of an angel she ran past.

She would become stronger.

Stronger than her sister.

Stronger than anyone.

Stronger than the gods themselves.

That was her madness.

That was the madness of the Wicked Eye.

* * *

The third chapter of the story, revised edition. Some small touch-ups, nothing story related, just things I noticed while working on the next chapter. Also titles, so yay that. I really shouldn't have updated these chapters, this is taking so much time from my writing it's actually annoying me. Ah to have refound my love for the written word. Please leave a review (I like constructive criticis) and as always

Thanks for reading


	5. 04: A Revelation

**04: A Revelation**

A week had passed since then. Although she most likely wouldn't want to admit it, we had formed our own private clique. We all had made some friends outside our group. Me and Isshiki hung a lot with the guys, and Nibutani had made some female friends to counteract our presence, and she… well you can probably guess the answer. And although all that happened, in school, we were very likely to be seen together. And no one else could fit. We were a pretty weird group. The social outcast, Rikka (although she'd never admit to being part of our group), the beauty queen, Nibutani, the clown, Isshiki and me, the one without the smartass title.

Me and Nibutani had met in the morning again at the end of last week, but were (sadly) interrupted by the Eye demon, Rikka. So breakfast for 3, which now I think about it, sounds pretty good. Get your head out of the ditch though writer-san. So today, the Monday of the second school week, Nibutani and I decided to meet up after school, after doing the inventory of the school labs we had to do because of our class rep jobs and we also travelled to the next district. In hope we would not get bothered.

Not considering the fact that there seemed to be a connection between us, she said she had to talk about something important too. Something that didn't seem to have anything to do with what I hoped we'd discuss tonight.

First thought when we walked into the restaurant. Fancy. Too damn fancy.

"You're not expecting me to pay for tonight right?" I ask in exasperation.

"No no, my family has some connections here. It's free."

"Are you some kind of princess?"

"Something like that."

"Wait, what?"

"Just wait. It's a long story and you'll need something to drink, believe me."

"We can't drink. We're underage."

"That, my friend, is true, sadly enough."

"Shinka-san, you seem to be going through a personality change, do you happen to be on your peri-"  
Note, speaking with a fist jammed in your face, is not easy.

"Am not, Yuuta-kun. Sheesh, making me break my lady like demeanour." She answered with a glint in her eyes.

Pheww, some of her old way of acting seems to still exist. Before I could answer however we were interrupted by a butler.

"Nibutani-sama and guest, would you please follow me to your private diner room?"

She waves a dismissive signal. "Thank you Nigel, but I can find it myself."

The butler walks away, slightly offended. "My name's not Nigel." I hear him mutter quietly.

"Now Yuuta, if you would follow me."

"Sure, Nibutani-sama?"

"Don't even go there. We're first name basis remember?" she says, slightly pleadingly and looking kind of solemn.

"Sure. Lead the way Shinka-san." I hesitantly correct myself.

Her eyes steel for a second, then they soften again, and with a sigh she motions me to follow her.

We walk through the restaurant, between tables full of fancily dressed people. I felt very misplaced in my uniform but Shinka strutted through the restaurant full of grace, she seemed… at home.

She opened a red velvet curtain revealing a Japanese styled sliding door. Opening it, she motioned me inside.

A square room, Japanese styled, with a small terrace giving us a look to the small garden and the darkness outside. In one of the corners a low table and a couple of sitting pillows were stowed away and in the middle, breaking the iconic Japanese style, was a table with two fancy chairs just like in the restaurant.

"I don't like the whole sitting on the floor thing." Nibutani says.

"That must be difficult for your family to accept. With you being the heir to the throne and all."

"I'm not a princess, not quite at least. But as close as you can get in modern day Japan probably."

"Yeah, so I'm going to be murdered by a secret intelligence agency or something, right?"

"No, just, sit down. I'll explain everything over dinner."

"Okay."

We walked toward the table and I followed her to her side of it, pulling out her chair.

"Quite the gentleman, Yuuta-kun."

"This is still partially a date, right?"

"I think that's for you to decide when you know the things I need to tell you. But I wouldn't mind it being one." She said smiling shyly.

Ignoring it, I sat down and motioned her to start her explanation.

"Uhm… well, where do I start?"

"Wherever you want to, I'll ask questions when I don't understand it."

"Ok. Yuuta, have you decided what club to join yet?"

"No? Does this have anything to do with you being a princess?"

"It'll be clearer soon, but ok, no club? I want you to join my circle."

"Continue?"

"Well the circle is not really a club. It was made by me, ordered by the higher-ups of the Council."

"Council?"

"OK, this isn't going to work like this. I'll tell the story, questions afterwards."

"Fine."

"Ok, first you need to know this. I know that you're an ability user. I know because I'm an ability user as well. With proper training and guidance you might become one of the strongest to exist, judging from your growing strength from training with the Wicked Eye."

"May I interject for a second?"

"Sure." she sighs.

"I haven't trained with Rikka."

"Seriously? Than did you train on your own?"

"No."

"Ok… that's something we'll discuss in a second then. One purpose of me inviting you was so that I could take over your training, instead of Takanashi-san. You see, while there is peace between my and Rikka's faction, they lord over us because they have the strongest ability user of our time as an asset, namely Takanashi Tooka. Rikka's elder sister. My faction is part of the temple council, with my father leading this and our home district and me being the head miko. Or head shrine maiden. It's more of a ceremonial title, I received it because I'm simple the strongest within our temple. We, or I rather want you to join me, I mean us. You trained, as an asset, would tip the scales in our favour for the rest of your life probably."

"Sounds interesting, although I don't know if I want to be a political pawn. I'd rather be a player myself. But, what's in it for me?"

"Me, for one."

"So if I refuse, you leave. And it doesn't disturb you that your used as an asset for negotiation?"

"No, and it was my choice. But let's see, free training, payment for slaying invaders from the Otherworld, if you wanted you could probably take over from my father after a decade or so."

"Ok… anything else?"

"The other reason we want you in our sphere of influence is because there's a suspicion that you might be another servant of someone called the Dark Flame Master. The Wicked Eye was one as well although their memories are sealed."

"That name doesn't ring a bell. Their memories?"

"The memories of the previous holders of the Eye. Specifically the ones of their Master."

"What happened to that black flame god person?"

"He was beaten by Tooka, or so they say, when she was about our age, though because of her strength she ages slower, being sixteen then and only twenty-seven now, although it happened before we were born."

"How does that even work?"

"Do you know how aging works?"

"With cell splitting, our telomeres get shorter until they're gone, and then cell dividing stops."

"And you know that ability users regenerate quicker due to their mana."

"Yes?"

"Simply put, her regeneration is fast enough that she actually regenerates her telomeres. Not fast enough to completely stop the aging process, but still, she's the only one who is visibly years younger. Also shows you how strong she is."

"Do you have that?"

"Yes, but accumulated, it was only a week or so over the past 10 years."

"So you've been training since you were six?"

"That's usually the time when powers start showing. For some reason yours didn't. That's one of the reasons we suspect you being a servant of that person."

"Well, Rikka did say that I might kill someone if I don't train, and I'd rather train with you, so I'll join your circle. The other matters will have to wait, let me contemplate them a bit. For now tell me some more about the political background stuff, 'cause I'm pretty certain I might be killed by you and your faction."

She opened her mouth, but we were interrupted by 'Nigel' the butler.

"Ma'am, sir, are you ready to order?"

"As appetizer, the soup of the day, main course would be steak, with French fries preferably and dessert, Yuuta?"

"I don't even know what they have here!"

"Just guess something."

"FINE, milkshakes then."

"Milkshakes it is. You got that Nigel?"

The butler bows and leaves grumbling.

"I don't think his name is Nigel, Shinka-san."

"Really? He never said anything about it."

"That's probably because your father pays his salary."

"That's not true. My father is simply the leader of the temples in this district and our district. This restaurant is owned by ability users under our jurisdiction, that's the reason he obeys me, he is technically my underling, although I'm not directly affiliated with the person who pays him."

'Nigel' re-entered bringing us two plates of steaming hot, tomato cream soup.

"Thank you Nigel."

"You're doing it on purpose now, Shinka-san." I said.

"I'm not, if he has a problem with it he should say something about it instead of keeping quiet."

"When was the last time you complained to someone who could command you around at a whim?"

"Uhm… alright, fine. Next time, I'll ask his name."

"Ok, now tell me about your order that you want me to join."

"Well, I would be your commander. You see, our strongest member leads our forces when in battle, however our smarter members strategize and deal with the politics of the Temple Council. Sometimes both are the same people, like my father was before I was born and trained. Skills over succession is the rule though, so you can grow in political power as well."

"Ok, but what's this Temple Council?"

"The Temple Council is the political counterweight to the Organization, that's situated in Europe, with Rome being it's centre for a long time, recently it moved though, to get away from the link with Catholicism. Anyway, the Temple Council is the union of all the temple leaders. It's basically a governmental body similar to the European union… no, rather like the old Roman Senate because they're all trying to grab more power. We do have a president though."

"Ok, next question is for after the soup, else it's cold, and I'm pretty sure most people could live for a week from what this plate cost."

"Slight overstatement. More like 3 days."

"Still a retarded amount of money for such a thing like a scoop of damn soup."

"Fine fine." She started gobbling down the soup with some breadsticks.

I joined her happily, it was expensive, but delicious too. We quickly finished the one ladleful of soup and 'Nigel' came in to clear our plates. He quickly scuffled of again but Nibutani stopped him in his tracks.

"Nigel, someone told me that your name might not be Nigel. Could you tell me what it is then?"

"My name is actually Walter madam."

"Are you British Walter?"

"No, but my mother is."

"Ok thank you, Ni- Walter."

"Thank you, Nibutani-sama, Togashi-sama." And he left.

"And apparently I'm no longer a guest here."

"No, you already got his vote. You're a monster of a person Yuuta. You have the ability to put people in positions where they wish to serve you. You're a very domineering person."

"Do you wish that? Also domineering? What am I? A dictator?"

"In some ways, probably. But I refuse to listen to you as long as you're weaker. And that's not what I meant idiot."

"And I'm guessing we'll test who's stronger at some point?"

"Yes, but first I'll train you a bit, so you don't accidently hurt anyone."

Walter walked in with their dinners.

"Ah Walter, impeccable timing. How far into your training are you?"

"I'm cleared for solo fighting ma'am."

"You have your own weapon then?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Might you show it to your peer?"

"As you command ma'am."

"Vanishment this world."

And the world fell around them.

* * *

A dark, stormy sky above, the ground covered with metal plates nailed into the ground.

I stood about 5 meters from Walter, who had some crystal like knives in one hand and a short blade in the other about 50 centimetres long. Nibutani was still sitting at the table, eating her steak.

"It seems to fit you Walter. Now could you spar with Togashi-sama?"

I gave her a panicked look and quickly summoned the boken, just in time to block one of the knives speeding towards me.

"Bloodless summoning? Impressive Yuuta-kun. Where'd you get the sword?"

"Killed an angel last week."

"With help?"

"None at all."

"Interesting."

Walter stepped forward and flashed out of existence, and then I felt the slam of a blade in the back of my neck and that was that.

I blacked out and fell.

* * *

I blinked my eyes open. I was back in the restaurant, sprawled on the floor. Nibutani still sat where she had been sitting all the time, sipping from a milkshake.

"That was slightly disappointing, but you have potential."

"Ok, when's training starting? I hate losing."

"Tomorrow, I'll text you where you should be for our first circle meeting." She finished her drink and sat down next to me, carefully coordinating the movements of her skirt.

"Where's my food anyway?"

"No food for the losers, but since this technically was a date, you do get this." And she leaned in to quickly give me a glancing kiss. She then got up and walked away.

"Walter has made arrangements for transportation for you back home. See you tomorrow Yuuta-kun."

She left me dazed.

Partially recovering from my shock, I got up as well, and followed Walter to a taxi. I was driven home, and got in my bed.

"What the hell was this evening!?" I screamed from the top of my longues.

* * *

The fourth chapter of the story, revised edition (the last one finally). Some small touch-ups, nothing story related, just things I noticed while working on the next chapter. Also titles, so yay that. Now to resume writing the next chapter. I'm sorry for the incredible delay, and while I'd like to say I have a good excuse, I don't think being lazy counts. Thank you for your continued interest in my brain spasms. Please leave a review (I like constructive criticis) and as always

Thanks for reading


	6. 05: The Start Of Something

**05: The Start Of Something**

"Ah, Yuuta-kun, welcome." She said raising herself from the middle of the pentagram where she had been kneeling. The pentagram seemed scratched into the floor with a knife.

"You're early, I wasn't quite ready purifying the room yet, but by all means stay, just don't disturb me and try focussing on my energy."

"Is that part of the training as well Shinka?"

"I'll explain later, else the rest will be here before we're ready." she answered whilst returning to her meditative pose in the middle of the pentagram.

Simply dropping down next to the door, Yuuta started intensely staring at Shinka. Her soft lips, glistening lightly from her lip-gloss, her supple neck, her slowly moving chest, - His thoughts were stopped.

Smiling lightly Shinka was looking judgingly at him with one opened eye. "I said focus on my energy, and not my body. Have you no self-control?"

"Uhm… no. Yes. Maybe? I'm sorry!" Yuuta reacted, blushing furiously, he redirected his focus to a spot just above her head. With a sigh Shinka resumed her seemingly useless meditation. He didn't dare let his vision shift for five minutes, and then she suddenly got up. She walked towards him and set herself down next to him.

Resting her head on his shoulder she said: "So? Before we go to the serious thing, let's talk about the serious thing before we get interrupted again. Are we dating now?"

"Well you did kiss me right?"

"Yes."

"So it's my choice?"

"Yes."

"And this doesn't mean I agree with the other conditions, right?"

"No."

"OK, then the choice is simple." He softly grabbed her chin and planted a firm yet inexperienced kiss on her lips.

She softly giggled. "Well, I'm happy with your choice. You do, however, need a lot of practice." She leaned in for another kiss, but then the door slammed open and a blond longhaired middle school student rolled inside, and rose afterwards with skill. She bowed slightly to Nibutani and gave a curt nod to Yuuta.

"Where's the Wicked Eye?" the voice was warm and soft, and it had a distant regal tone.

"Not here yet." Nibutani answered the newcomer

"Great. Who's the pipsqueak?" and her voice turned colder and the regal tone increased.

Yuuta rose in defiance and opened his mouth when he felt a cold spot against his chin. The middle school student had closed the gap and pulled a heavy smith's hammer from somewhere which was now resting against his chin.

Nibutani sighed. "Must you always introduce yourself like that Dekomori Sanae?"

The middle school student retracted the hammer, and let the oak handle slide into a small leather loop at her waist. She grinned broadly and trotted to the window where she stopped and looked outside. Yuuta threw a look of utter confusion at Nibutani.

"Her I'll explain later. But you asked about the pentagram earlier, simply put, it cleanses the area inside of mana particles, so we can summon and maintain our weapons, armours and so on within its borders. In fact, why don't you summon your sword and show it to Dekomori."

"Fine." He extended his hand within the borderline and summoned the weapon. The bright yet black flash made Dekomori turn around. He extended the handle to her and she grabbed it swiftly. She sat down, and started intently studying the weapon. With a short wave of her hand she indicated Yuuta had to sit across from her. He glanced at Nibutani and after she nodded he sat down as asked.

When he sat down, the girl gave him back the weapon, which he let rest on his knees.

She looked at Nibutani, "Can I start?"

"Sure, I guess. The others are late after all. But introduce yourself first though."

"Fine." Her eyes shifted and focused on him again. "Hi. I'm Dekomori Sanae. Best ability user/smith on this globe. I'll be one of your instructors. I'll be teaching you how to maintain and craft your equipment. Why am I doing this you ask? Two reasons. The first, Rikka seems to have taken an interest in you. Secondly, late bloomers usually prove to be excellent craftsmen and I could use a decent apprentice for once." Her tone balanced between the cold, regal one and the softer, warmer one. He felt her weighing his worth.

"Ok. I'm Togashi Yuuta, nice to meet you."

"Ok, listen up. That weapon of yours is trash. Grade A trash, but trash nonetheless. Where did you get it?"

"I killed an angel and received it from him."

"Ah, that explains a lot."

"How so?"

"Well, the explanation would make more sense after you've had some experience with smithing, but I'll try. Simply put, the metal isn't folded and rather weak. When demons or humans smith we fold the metal multiple times to make it stronger. Angels, however, don't smith. They form weapons using their magic, and the younger or weaker the angel the weaker their weapons."

"From what I've heard so far, demons and humans seem very similar."

"Well, not really. Demons are indefinitely more natural at forging. Only our greatest smiths, like me, would be better than theirs, and that's only because we launch attacks at their forges every once in a while to kill their better smiths."

"How do we stand a chance against their weapons then."

"Because our better smiths can infuse the mana of the user into the weapons, making them stronger when the user channels mana through them and making it easier to use our mana as well."

"Will those weapons be stronger without mana application as well?"

"Depends on how strong and how much mana the user channels into the 'weapon' during the crafting of it. Rikka for example has an axe, made by me, and that thing can easily cleave through the strongest demon steel. In all aspects, Rikka is a monster."

"And her sister is even stronger?"

"Currently yes, but a part of the powers of the Wicked Eye lies sealed in Rikka's memories, which she can't or rather is not allowed to access. If anything would happen to the barriers in her mind she would most likely be as strong as her sister, but possibly quite unstable and thus a danger for everyone."

"Could you craft me a blade?"

"Especially for you? Not yet, but I might, eventually, depending on how your training goes. Now if you'll excuse me."

"Excuse you for what?"

"I'm borrowing this," She picked up the sword lying on his legs, "and it just might break."

"Wait what!?" he exclaimed while she got up and positioned herself facing the window. He started getting up to retrieve his blade but at that moment the glass of the window shattered and he was pushed down by the blast.

He heard Nibutani yell, "Goddamnit, you're fixing this, you hear me!?" He didn't know who invaded the room, which was luckily far from where any normal student would be hanging out at this hour, but he could make a fair guess. When the smoke cleared, he was proven right, when he saw Rikka suspended in the air. She had slammed what seemed to be a woodcutter's hatchet overhead and Dekomori had it blocked with Yuuta's blade.

"What trash are you holding there Rikka? Even this blade can cut into it?" Dekomori exclaimed, obviously appalled by the weapon the other girl held. Yuuta now saw that his sword had dug a quarter inch into the wooden handle of the hatchet.

Rikka landed and they disengaged. She responded, "I wasn't sure if you had the time to make the thing I requested and he promised someone to take care of the blade so…"

"Of course I finished your request, is your opinion of me that low? The thing you asked me to make was finished within a couple of hours."

"Have you given it yet?"

"No, when you start his training I'll give it, and that might not even be today."

"True."

"Oi, pipsqueak, catch!" Dekomori threw the blade toward Yuuta, and he dexterously caught it from mid-air.

"He does seem to possess a certain ability." Dekomori said. "He succeeded in killing an angel so that has to be true." Nibutani interjected.

The other two girls nodded in agreement.

"One last person and we are complete."

As if on cue, the door slid open.

"Evening everyone, now who's the pupil- Yuuta, what the hell are you doing here?" Isshiki exclaimed in surprise.

"He's the pupil." Nibutani said.

"Really?"

"Yeah." Yuuta interjected this time.

"Well… that's surprising."

"Talk about this later, will you guys?" Nibutani basically commanded. Isshiki glared but complied, Yuuta simply closed his mouth.

The four other gathered in front of Yuuta.

"Could you please kneel, Yuuta."

"Why?"

"It's a ceremony, you will pledge to follow our guidance and rules whenever we are training you, this is to protect yourself and us."

"Explain?"

"Well, if you don't listen, and happened to lash out uncontrollably, we might be forced to hurt, or even kill you if we evaluated your strength and growth correctly."

"And this pledge will make me obey?"

"No, like I said, it's just a ceremony. Honour your teachers, or obliterate yourself, are basically your choices."

"You didn't tell me about this!" Yuuta exclaimed, he felt himself losing his cool.

"See, this losing your cool is why we ask this of you. No matter how useless you feel the assignment is, or how frustrating it is, you need to obey. Emotions are the key to unlocking your strength."

"Of course it is. What is this to you, some kind of anime?" Something was loosening inside of him.

"Yuuta, calm down, you must sense it just as much as we do now, your anger is increasing the flow of your mana."

Clenching his teeth, he breaths in deeply through his nose and then slowly blows it back out again. He could feel the flow within him lessening.

"Good. Are you ready to do the ceremony now?"

"Sure." He was still agitated, and his spirit was restless yet. He knelt, setting himself in a relaxed manner.

Nibutani started speaking, but Yuuta wasn't listening. His curiosity had won, and he turned inward, mentally trying to follow the paths his mana flowed. Instantly he was confused. He didn't feel a single flow of mana, but sensed several, and not just different channels for the same mana, no, every single vein contained something else. He thought this might be the different affinities Rikka had been talking about, but he didn't think there'd be different systems for every element.

Secondly, he was unable to find a source. He had found a point where they all intersected, but there wasn't anything there. It was like looking through a lens of some sort, something that clouded his vision, made him unable to tap into that source, that thing that was making him feel so invigorated right now. He reached out but was at that moment pulled out of his contemplation by Nibutani.

"Do you pledge?" She asked once more, and he felt the last of his powers lay themselves to rest.

"I guess I do. You've made it pretty clear I don't really have a choice." Yuuta answered. His mana may not be running rampant any longer, he was still pretty agitated, even if he was pledging obedience to his girlfriend.

"Well with that behind us, we can start your training."

"Great. How?"

Rikka and Dekomori jumped outside through the windows, Dekomori calling out that Nibutani should contact them when he was ready to get their tutelage. Isshiki sat himself in a corner and silently observed the two people left. Nibutani knelt in front of Yuuta.

"Hi." Yuuta sarcastically said.

"I know you don't like to be tied down, but the pledge is definitely necessary in your case. You probably didn't notice it, but Dekomori and Makoto, who didn't know about your strength almost jumped you already."

Astonished, Yuuta looked at the person he considered his best friend, and Isshiki nodded slightly.

"It's nothing personal Yuuta. In my line of work you are either overcautious, or your dead."

"Your line of work?"

"Guys, later, we'll go to dinner afterward Yuuta, and Makoto can join us for a small while to discuss these issues with you but we only have an hour or so before they start locking down this building. And not to make anyone feel anxious, but Yuuta is relatively quite strong for someone who only weeks ago awakened their powers, and could quite possible blow up the bigger part of his apartment without realizing."

"I'm well aware Nibutani, I was briefed by my commander, and now I get why I was specially selected by you. But what bothers me is, that I almost never sense anything from Yuuta, and never anything quite like when he awakened either. In fact, I didn't sense anything 'till now and when he summoned his weapon, I presume at least."

"That's true, he has remarkable control over his mana, being capable of bloodless summoning, which is a very rare ability."

"Could you maybe stop talking about me like I'm not here?" Yuuta interrupted.

"Right, got off track myself there, thank you, Yuuta-kun. Isshiki-san, we'll add this to the topics for over dinner, alright?"

"Naturally."

"Alright, Yuuta, you ready?"

"As far as I can be without knowing what you're planning to do."

* * *

"Damnit!" Yuuta exclaimed, losing control over his frustrations and he felt his mana lashing out toward the board. The board was thrown into the air, and a light electric shock passed by Nibutani, curving around her like she was protected. A small crater now existed where the chessboard had been.

While trying to regain control over his emotions he reminisced about how this had started. Nibutani had transferred them to the Other World, and instructed him to try and relive his agitation. And he tried.

It took a couple of minutes, but the annoyance that he was unable to do as instructed eventually helped him reach his goal. He felt his mana course through his body once more.

"Alright Yuuta, now I'm going to ask you to grasp that mana. Don't worry if you do not succeed immediately, no one has."

He closed his eyes again and tentatively reached out for the arteries filled with his might.

"Try following your mana to its source, and grab hold there."

He opened his mouth, wanting to mention that his source was hidden or blocked or something, but something stopped him. The veins contracted, collapsed into each other, turning into the blackest black, blacker even then his flames were once.

"Keep it a secret." A voice whispered in his head "Simply grab a vein."

The arteries regained their original form, and he decided to listen to that voice, although if asked why, he wouldn't know. He started studying the mana flowing through each of the veins. One of them felt familiar. And he grasped that. And then there had been pain. He fell to his knees. His body seemed to swell, making his skin itch, and just as soon as it started, it ended. A last shiver ran throughout his entire person, ending in his hands. A couple of small sparks jumped around on his hands.

Nibutani reacted to the sight, "Lightning huh… that's quite odd considering-"

"My sword is lightning based, right?"

"Yes, how did you know?"

"It felt… familiar."

"Right… Anyway, can you now access your mana without having to become pissed?"

"Let me try." He stood up, and focused again. Instantly he noticed the change. The place where he suspected his core was, he now saw a small hole surrounded by cracks, like someone had used a pickaxe to break the walls between him and his center. The white blueish mana he had used just now was trickling through those cracks, and he mentally extended inward, grasped the energy and started pulling. The trickle became a flow, nearly overwhelming him once more. Again small sparks shot from his hands.

"Wow, Yuuta-kun, not many people can do this that easily, most take a couple of weeks to access their mana once, and the second time they'd still need another three or four days."

"Thanks, I guess, they probably didn't have such an amazing teacher."

"I didn't teach you anything yet, Yuuta, you suckup. Anyway, now comes the hard part for you, for where you have power, you have no control."

"And how will you teach me to control my own might?"

"For now, with this." She answered, as Isshiki handed her a chess set.

And then his torture had begon. The chess set had been enchanted. First off, you needed to channel small amounts of mana in pieces to make them move, different for every piece. Secondly, any excess mana, made the pieces disobey his orders and was used to retaliate against him with small shocks. The first game he lost in 3 moves, and during the rest he didn't fare much better. This last game however, went pretty well, until he got excited when he found an opening in Nibutani's strategy, losing control again and his pieces rebelled, granting Nibutani an easy victory. And then he got angry.

"Alright alright, Yuuta, calm down, let's call it a day."

"No damnit, I refuse to lose or at least to keep losing."

"Well, tough luck for you, time's up. They're closing the building in a couple of minutes."

"Damnit… can I borrow the chess set to practice?"

"No, no unsupervised training for you just yet. Isshiki-san, if you will?"

"Fine, I'll clean up, ojou-sama."

"Are you still butthurt that your practically my minion for the rest of Yuuta's training?"

"Yes, technically I should rank higher than you, but since your Temple lords over the rest, power is more important than experience."

"Yes, and the reason why is pretty clear in this case, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess." Makoto grumbles.

"Can you maybe explain it to me then?" Yuuta asked.

Meanwhile they shifted back into the real world.

"Well, if your mana runs rampant, and you start blasting people, I will most likely be the only one that can keep you from destroying a small district."

He stared at her in astonishment. "I really doubt I'm that strong."

"You are, although you haven't really shown it yet, which is odd… it's like you're limited to only a small bit of your power. But we'll blame that on you being a late-bloomer."

"Have there been any other late-bloomers that have had this issue?"

"No, but then again, most late-bloomers don't even come close to your power. When you first awakened there was a huge shock in our community. We were pretty sure a demonic or angelic Lord was passing over. The signature disappeared very rapidly though. Most didn't think any of it, but I was close so I suspected something. And when you reappeared with Takanashi-san shortly after, I drew my own conclusions."

"And that's why you showed interest in me in the first place, right?"

"Yes, although that changed after getting to know you."

"Well, it's always fun when you find out people sought you out because you had power."

"Yuuta, are seriously going to act like a child now?"

"Aren't I a child in comparison to my mighty mentors?"

"To some maybe. I'm pretty sure you could best Isshiki."

"Alright OJOU-SAMA, if you're going to pick a fight I won't refuse!" Makoto yelled whilst he picked up the final piece of the chess set.

"Settle down, Yuuta is aware I'm no serious."

"Still!"

"Oh, pipe down, or you can pay your own dinner."

"Fine."

"So, we off?"

"I'm ready." Yuuta said, "Sure." Makoto chimed in.

* * *

They were sitting in the same room as where Nibutani and Yuuta had dined last time. Walter had jumped up immediately when he saw them enter. Last time they were in the restaurant the daily routine had been broken dramatically, and he hoped for the same once more.

He was thoroughly disappointed when he was asked to disturb them as less as he was capable of. The two mentors and the pupil made their orders and Walter left the room.

"Alright, what do you want to talk about first?" Nibutani asked the two boys.

"What is it you do Isshiki?"

"I'm a spy. We infiltrate organisations like rival temples to find information, weaknesses, political instability and so on. My clan has the ability to reject our mana systems infusing them almost completely in our weapons, making us appear very weak and practically unnoticeable."

"Doesn't that mean that you'd be incredibly vulnerable without your weapon?"

"Yes, that's why we are all expert hand-to-hand combatants, and most of our weapons are very hard to get knocked out of our hands. A good example would be my brass knuckles."

"Hmm… alright. And what is it you're going to teach me?"

"Hand-to-hand combat of course."

"And you Nibutani?"

"I will teach you to control your mana. Spellcraft if you will. When you have basic control over your mana the others will start training you as well."

"And what will Rikka be teaching me?"

"Fighting with most kinds of weapons, mostly swords and axes probably."

"Huh… alright. Nibutani, what do you use to fight anyway?"

"My main weapon is a spear, for ranged attacks I sometimes use a crossbow too."

"Interesting."

"Yuuta, do you mind if I discuss some peculiarities connected to you in private with Isshiki?"

"Can I go fight with Walter again?"

"You think you can beat him already?"

"No, but I'm curious as to how much this training has helped."

"Sure, I'll call him in." She rung a small hand bell and Walter slid the door open immediately. "Ah Walter, would you spar with Togashi-sama for a bit?"

"Of course, my lady." He replied. Yuuta got up from the table and walked over to Walter.

"You ready, young sir?" Walter asked extending a hand.

"Naturally." Yuuta grinned and clasped the hand.

They shifted.

* * *

A small island in the middle of lake was the setting this time. The sun was blazing down onto them, glistening beautifully on the lake. Neither had eyes for the scenery though. They took several steps from each other and both summoned their weapons smoothly, with or without blood.

"May the best man win, Togashi-sama."

"He most probably will, Walter."

Yuuta grasped his mana and it found its way to his sword. Sparks started shooting across the blade.

"Come now!"

Walter threw several knifes at Yuuta, who instead of dodging or deflecting, made a long arcing slash. Sparks shot from the blade, shattering the crystal knives, which Yuuta now realized were made of ice.

Again Walter stepped and faded from his view, this time however, Yuuta was prepared. He blocked the slash, letting Walter's blade skid of the surface of his, knocking it over Yuuta's head. As Walter lost balance, Yuuta tried jabbing an elbow into his ribs, which Walter prevented with a palm strike on Yuuta's upper arm.

Walter regained his balance and Yuuta used the short respite to turn around and face his opponent.

"Better than last time already, Togashi-sama."

"Like that would work twice."

"I felt like giving you a chance."

"How sweet." Yuuta exclaimed, slashing toward his adversary.

Blocking the slash easily with his sword, Walter attempted to stab Yuuta with an ice knife. Yuuta blocked with his arm but was thanked with a long cut. He disengaged his weapon and tried a stab, which was deflected. Not giving up, Yuuta immediately tried to follow up with a slash aiming at Walter's left wrist.

Under a spell of luck he succeeded, forcing Walter to leave his ice knifes behind.

"Good slash Togashi-sama." Walter praised. "However, you've left yourself wide open now." He then slammed his right fist into Yuuta's side, heavily loaded with mana, and Yuuta flew several meters before rolling over the ground. Grunting he struggled upright.

"And that would be enough from you two!" Nibutani suddenly appeared, keeping them from clashing once more.

"Yuuta, Isshiki is eating in the restaurant so come back so we can have some alone time." She then noticed the cut on Walter's wrist.

"Let your guard down, Walter?"

"Not really, ma'am. He attempted something no sane fighter would do and that is the reason he is currently trying to crawl from the ground. Still he lasted long enough for you to stop this fight so, he has improved."

"I guess he has."

"Let him rest for a bit here, he should be okay in a couple of minutes."

"Thank you Walter."

Yuuta dropped to the ground again, sitting down, and Nibutani joined him.

"At least he didn't knock you out this time."

"I'm still weak."

"You'll get there Yuuta-kun." She kissed him softly. "Don't forget that there are other things that should interest you beside training, fighting and winning."

"Never, my mentor wouldn't let me." He grinned, answering her kiss with one of his own.

"No, she wouldn't." she answered smiling. "You however need training in this area still." She kissed him again.

"Gladly." He tried to kiss her again but she stopped him.

"First mana control, then this."

"Why?" He asked with a pouty face.

"Because when you're not in control of your mana, strong emotions might just make you blow stuff up on accident."

"Goddammit."

"Goddammit indeed." She inclined with a smile.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

Finally a new chapter. I'm very very sorry for the delay. I'm a lazy person and have been putting of writing for a while, I lost interest after struggling with this chapter for a while. Today I however said I'd finish the chapter and so I did. Now, it's currently about 4 am, and I am pulling an all nighter (I'll probably start on the next chapter as soon as this note is done). This probably means there will be some more spelling and grammatical errors then usual. I'll most likely dump a revised edition somewhere in the weekend that fixes most (hopefully). Anyway, I thank you for your continued interest in my writing. I'd love to hear what you think so leave a review if you wish to help me improve the story and my own writing. And as always

Thanks for reading


	7. 06: How To Make Progress

**06: How To Make Progress**

"It's killing you isn't it, Yuuta?" she said grinning broadly.

"No, of course not!" He lied through his teeth, letting his head slump after another lost match of chess.

"It's nothing you should feel bad about, I am, after all, a Temple War Leader. Strategizing whilst on the battlefield is kind of my job description."

"Still, I thought that, with being able to control my mana and all, I'd be able to beat you at least once."

"You do seem to have a rudimentary sense for strategy, it is underdeveloped however. Something we could always work on, if and when necessary."

"True… So, am I finally ready for the next step?"

"Yuuta, you do realize that most people train for a year before they are able to exert the control you do, right?"

"Yes. But that doesn't mean I have to be that slow right. Come on Nibutani, I want to beat Walter sometime soon."

Nibutani sighs. "You are aware he holds back a great deal, right?"

"Of, of course I did…" Yuuta replied sullenly.

"You still suck at lying." She shuckled. "But yes, I do think you're ready for your next step. I'll give you your training roster tomorrow on our date. But for now, do you want to practice hand-to-hand combat with sleepyhead over there, or actually use some mana with me?"

"Most definitely you, Shinka. Then I can surprise Isshiki during our training by blasting some magic in his face."

"Doubt that'll work, but by all means try." She said with a smile.

He shows a broad smile.

"Well… what to learn you… Could you pull as much mana as you can? Then I can see what you might be able to do."

"Alright." He was still connected with his mana, so he immediately started amassing power.

She studied him intensely, he had grown much in a week, he could fine-tune his mana as good as, if not better than most that get taught some basic spells. The grass swayed lightly under him now. The air crackled lightly around him.

"Ok this is all I can pull, for now."

As always he didn't disappoint, his power rivalled that of a Captain-Commandant, though he most likely would not be able to beat one for… well she'd like to say several years but in his case, probably at most three months.

"Ok, you can let it go now. Do keep it at a level where you can easily hold it, without focussing too much."

His power signature dropped quite a bit, staggering at about 40 percent. Now that's something special. He might just need 1 month to beat a Captain-Commandant.

"Alright. I have a bit of affinity in lightning, so spells at your level I can demonstrate… It would be handy to have Rikka around for demonstrations though eventually. Well first, Walter told me you were able to charge your weapon already?"

"Yes."

"Alright, good. Please do so for me."

"Naturally." He smoothly summoned his weapon, immediately his mana shot through the blade. Stronger sparks than before ran along the cutting edge.

Nibutani also summoned a weapon. A short spear appeared in her hand. A light brown-coloured handle, about 6 feet long, and a 2 feet long blade. Slightly beneath the blade a small lightning bolt had been burned into the wood.

"Is that your spear, Shinka? It looks a bit… well plain." He said.

"It's just a practice spear, my own weapon is not really fine-tuned for lightning based spells."

"Can I have one?"

"Sure, you interested in spears?"

"I want to learn as much as I can."

"You're always so eager. Anyway, how did you use it against Walter?"

"Like this!" He performed the slash once more, letting the crackling lighting whip through the sky.

"You could also do this, for a quick attack." She charged her spear, thrusting is toward a tree. A bolt shot through the tree burning through it easily.

"Hmm… so like this?" He stabs his sword toward the same tree, a crackle filled the air as the bolt drilled into the tree, barely making it through.

"Great, yes, just like that."

She then showed him some basic spells to use with or without his weapon. She sat down and watched him blast at trees, cutting them, and inflicting some damage. After 10 minutes of blasting he sighed.

"What is it, Yuuta?"

"I just thought that, with magic on my side, I'd be stronger now. At least able to defeat these damn trees."

"Yuuta, you're already further than I was at this point, and I was an unprecedented prodigy in our temple."

"It's still just your temple."

"Yes, you're right…" She responded slightly taken aback.

"I'm sorry… I'm just frustrated."

"Yuuta, I know, you want to be stronger. But growth can't be forced. These spells may not be that strong, but as you grow so will their strength, and you'll become able to use more powerful ones as well."

"I know, I know…"

"Want to call it a day for now?"

"I'd like to practice some more, but I think I've used up most of my mana, so it wouldn't be of much use."

"Alright. Next week, your training will start for real."

* * *

Tiredly he walked into the apartment. While he was looking forward to the training, even just the bit today already tired him out. And then he has that date with Nibutani tomorrow, which will most likely exhaust him even more. Ah well… food and sleep is the goal now. He strolled into the living area greeting his family. His mom as motherly as ever, immediately pushed a heated up plate into his hands for dinner. He smiled and thanked her.

"Oh, don't thank me. You're doing the dishes."

Crap. Ah well, side questing is fun right? He sat down next to his sister, who was lying face down on a math book.

"Brother?" She asked looking toward him, "Could you help me with my math homework?"

And more side questing. "Only if you help me with the dishes."

"Deal."

"Alright what's the problem?"

"I just don't get these equations."

"Let me see."

She shoved the book toward him and he started munching down his food while trying to decipher what his sister had written. The equations were rather simple, so he didn't have any trouble to figure out what the answers were. He did have some trouble finding were his sister went wrong. Eventually, when he was done eating he found what she did wrong.

"See this, that should be a minus instead of a plus. You are making quite a lot of sign mistakes."

"But it's plus on that side!"

"Yes, so when you transfer it to the other side, it becomes a minus."

"That's odd."

"How else would you be able to make the addend disappear here?"

"Uhm…"

"See, when you transfer an addend to the other side, you take it's opposite."

"Ok… wait wait… so… yes ok, that actually makes sense."

"Alright, now dishes."

"Can't I first finish this while you watch over me?"

"Fine." He sighs.

* * *

His phone alarm started going off. Early. Too early. He groaned as he twisted in his bed and tried to fall back asleep, without even shutting of the noise. A minute later his mom entered.

"Yuuta, you lazy bum! Get out of bed and shut of that noise. You asked me to wake you up so why did you even put up an alarm?"

"Because you always forget, mom!"

"Well… the only reason I did come in here was because of that hellish noise, but that doesn't have anything to do with is. Now get your lazy bum into gear." She said with a wink.

"Right…" he turned around lazily.

He heard his mother stepping to his bed and suddenly his whole world twisted and turned as the blanket he was wrapped in was brutally ripped away. He landed with a thud on the ground.

"Are you going to get up now?" His mom asked ever so kindly.

"Yeah yeah, I'm getting up."

"Good." His mom left the room as he scrambled onto his feet. Sighing he took his nicest clothes out of his closet and shuffled toward the bathroom to take a shower.

* * *

He left the bathroom completely awake half an hour later. Between showering, getting his wily hair under control, fighting his fatigue and getting into the monkey suit he was wearing. He quickly ran out, saying goodbye to his mother while slamming the door shut behind him. He ran down the stairs and stopped at the last step.

"You're late Yuuta." She said, blushing just a bit. She was wearing short hot pants, a blue shirt that only covered one of her shoulders, and what looked like a black bra from the visible strap. He stared for a bit before noticing she was carrying a small basket.

"Stop staring so much, and anyway why are you dressed up that much?"

"I- I- I- I thought we'd go do something fancy?"

"Why? Because I'm rich?"

"Yes…" he ashamedly admitted.

"We're going to the park, and have a picnic that I prepared. Now get back up there and change."

"Want to come along?"

"Yuuta, how easy do you think I am?"

"I'm just suggesting for you to get out the heat, dumbass."

"Don't call me dumbass, you asshole."

"I like you too." He responded, pulling her in for a kiss. She struggled a bit, but then leaned in and answered his kiss.

"Damn it Yuuta I was trying to be mad at you!"

"Sounds like you still are." He smiled.

"Well… a bit. Alright alright, let's just go upstairs, you can pamper me with an ice-cream and change your clothes." She started going up the stairs.

"Ice-cream before food isn't very healthy." He followed.

"I don't care, your my boyfriend, you're supposed to pamper me."

"Very true, but I'm not supposed to make you fat though." He said poking her belly.

"Yuuta! I'm not fat. And if I ever become fat we'll just have to train more and date less, prick."

"You like insulting me today."

"Well you are provoking me."

"Very much true sweetie."

"Don't call me sweetie… yet." She said as they reached the door. He looked behind him to see her blushing furiously.

"Alright, Shinka-san." He entered the house.

"I'm back mom, and this is-"

"I'm Nibutani Shinka, nice to meet you. I'm uhm… Yuuta's girlfriend." She put down the picnic basket next to the front door

"Yuuta!" she gave himself a playful knock on his head. "You didn't tell me you had a girlfriend. You shouldn't keep such a pretty girl a secret."

"Thanks ma'am. But may I now kick your son's ass cause he hasn't told you about me?"

"Sure. His room is the second one on the right. Also don't call me ma'am. Makes me sound so old."

"Of course." She grabbed his tie and started him dragging toward his room. She slammed the door open and threw him into the room. He stumbled in and fell against the closet.

"Explanation?"

"I just didn't think of it yet? We've only been official for a week."

"So? You didn't tell it to anyone?" She seemed even angrier.

"I did, I bragged about against all the guys that the cutest person in our class was my girlfriend."

"Class?"

"I, of course meant, in our school."

"Good boy!" She patted him on the head and then pulled his chin up for a lingering kiss.

Breaking away, she said, "Alright, now shove over so I can check your closet for appropriate clothing."

He got up and sat on the bed while she pulled open his closet. She started rummaging through it, starting at the top, standing on her toes. Slowly she worked downward, bending more over and over.

"Look, Yuuta, I'm well aware that my butt looks good in these pants, especially now. But I would however appreciate if you at least tried not to stare as much."

"I'm sorry. I'm a healthy teenage boy, okay?"

"I'm well aware." She twirled around and threw him some loos fitting jeans and a green shirt. "Now, get dressed."

"Uhm… aren't you going to leave?"

"I don't mind if you do it in front of me." She said teasingly.

"But I do."

"I seem to remember someone promising me an ice-cream?"

"Right… if I give you your ice-cream are you going to let me get dressed in peace?"

"Not making any promises."

"Great. Alright follow me, I'll whip something up for you."

* * *

She was licking the spoon clean. "Alright, we ready to go now?"

"I have been since 20 minutes ago."

"I had an ice-cream because my boyfriend was spoiling me."

"Pretty sure you forced me to spoil you."

"Get used to it." She smiled broadly.

"For you? Sure." He leaned in and lightly kissed her. "You are however going to have to learn to listen to me too." He said grabbing her head and pulled her along, pulling her outside. She quickly grabbed the basket before being pulled down the stairs.

He kept running down, but braked heavily when reaching the ground. She stumbled and he caught her, letting the hug linger for a while.

"See, I'll always catch you when you fall." He smiled.

"Well, even forgoing that what you just said was a huge cliché, it's also your fault that I fell in the first place."

"Ah, tomato, tomahto."

"That doesn't work here."

"Of course it does."

"No, it does not."

"Ok fine, it doesn't." He grabbed the basket. "So where did you want to go?"

"Well we were going to take the limo out to Shinjuku Central Park and eat there. I was however unaware that your backyard looks pretty as well. I want to eat here."

"You're just being lazy because you just ate and ran right?"

"Also true."

He grinned. "Alright then, let's go look for a spot to eat."

"Ok." He started walking, but Shinka jumped forward and grabbed his hand. "I kinda liked this before." She blushed.

"I thought you had experience." He started walking into his 'backyard'.

"Yes, because you didn't lie, mister?"

"Yeah ok… fair enough. But how do you know? I think I acted the boyfriend role quite well 'till now."

"You do and say things other guys would never do with or to their girlfriend, which isn't necessarily bad, but we also ran a background check on you."

"So you know I had chuunibyou?"

"Well yes, but then again, here you are, doing exactly what you thought you could. It was probably because at some level you were aware of your powers maybe?"

"Dear god, I hope so."

She laughed. "Alright, let's go search a spot to eat now."

"Question."

"Yes?"

"Do you have a blanket to sit on with you?"

"I… do… not."

"Want to eat in my room? Or do you want me to run to the limo and send one of your caretakers to go get one?"

"They don't take care of me! And you can choose."

"The girl's choice is probably my safest bet here, so you choose."

"Well, you're right. Again. You're right too much. Make mistakes once in a while ok?"

"Pretty sure you were angry with me just then because I made a mistake?"

"Yuuta, you're doing it again."

"Right. Sorry." He grinned broadly.

"Let's just go." She twisted around, going back to the appartment.

"Oh? Do you trust me all alone in my room while you're wearing that?"

"Yes, I do. Also, at the present, I can still whoop your ass if need be."

"Yeah, about that, what about my training schedule?"

"At the end of the date, if I'm satisfied with this date."

"And so far?"

"So far, you're good." They reached the treeline as she said this.

"Wait." He says peering into the distance.

Immediately, her battle instincts jumped up and she starts scanning the horizon.

"Do you know where the attack is going to come from?"

"I don't feel or see anything so no."

"I do."

She turned toward him and saw him grinning.

"This was a tra-." He stopped her speech by pressing his lips on hers. His hands slid around her hips, and he pulled her in close. She responded by letting her arms slip around him and answering the kiss. They stood there, frozen in time, kissing each other softly. Eventually, out of breath, they both broke away. They leaned against each other with their foreheads, just enjoying their closeness.

"Ok, I don't think you can ruin this anymore." She said smiling shyly.

"Well then, I don't think I ever wanted to either." He responded.

"I hope so!" she lightly punched him.

"Well, I feel like eating this delicious dinner my beautiful girlfriend made outside, so I'll go grab a blanket to sit on. Don't run away."

"Of course not you suck up!" She yelled at his back as he took off.

He waved and sprinted up the stairs. It's been a long time since she's been this happy. That was practically the only thought in her mind. Well, beside him of course. She never really thought she'd ever really fall in love. But then again, she never thought she'd meet someone like him. He acts aloof, is calm, and likes to joke around, but at the same time he is a natural leader, and he carries much she can't see yet. Although she doesn't think he'd keep anything from her, he also would rather carry his own problems and hers as well is she let him. She never wanted to be protected, wanted to be strong enough to protect herself but… if it's him she just might let him. Why does he make her feel so anxious at times. She sometimes fear he'll just disappear into thin air. He just seems to not be… 'there', like he's listening to the wind, a voice in the distance. Sometimes, just sometimes, during their week of training she had been scared of him. At moments, fractions of seconds, his powers would shoot up incredibly, and although it disappeared immediately, the amount of mana he could channel would have grown.

There was this theory, that every ability user is limitless, but growth is harder and harder after a while, to the point where the growth is invisible. She didn't know yet, but he might be the first real limitless one.

"You look worried." He pulled her out of her inner monologue. He was carrying a dark blue blanket.

"A bit maybe. Just where we'll end up eventually."

"Isn't it a bit early for that?" He smiled.

"No, I meant with your powers and stuff." She said blushing again, she turned and walked toward a cherry tree and pointed to the ground. He threw the blanket down.

"Is there something to worry about then?"

"No, at the very least not yet. I'm just kind of worried someone will steal you from me."

"No one could steal me from you."

"I know." She rested her head on his chest as they sat down against the tree.

"So food?"

"Who's going to get fat now?"

"More training, less dating was the rule I remember."

"That rule only counts for me."

"That's cheating."

"I never cheat."

"Oh really?"

"Yes really."

"I have the feeling that I'm just going to have to nod and say that you're right."

"Trust that feeling." She handed him a sandwich from the basket and started munching on her own.

"Alright alright." He took the sandwich and they happily ate, sharing the silence without awkwardness. After finishing his sandwich he just held her and started to the sky through the branches and flowers of the old tree above them.

"What are you looking at?"

"I think I see the past, present and future all at once."

"How so?"

"The branches are my past, dark and well not fun. The present are the flowers, you and me together, the rose coloured life you've given me. And the sky is the future. Limitless and open, there may be clouds every once in a while, but we'll get through them I believe."

"Didn't know you were a poet."

"I'm not a poet. I just say things."

"At times you say exactly the right things. At other moments though…"

"I like teasing you, you're just going to have to forgive me for that."

"Fine, I forgive you."

"That was easy."

"Well, I can't always make it hard on you."

"I very much hope you'll keep up that policy."

She laughed softly.

"I don't like making promises, but I will say I'll try."

"Thank you… I think."

"No problem."

"Say, Shinka-sama…"

"Sama? I mean yes?"

"I think I'm going to join your temple."

"Our temple?"

"Our temple."

* * *

**Author's Notes**

Well... two chapters in one month(ish), I didn't think that would ever happen again. This is a bit of an experimental chapter, consisting mostly of a date and a whole lot of conversation. I'm trying to practice making conversations flow, and I wanted to give you a better view of Nibutani and Yuuta's relationship. Now I can honestly say that I haven't dated a lot, simply because me and my girlfriend are stay at home people so the depiction of this date might not be very accurate. I'd like to hear your opinions so leave a review or send a pm, it helps a lot. Oh, I'm also looking for a beta reader so if you wish to apply, send me a PM. And, naturally, as Always

Thanks for reading.


	8. 07: The Training Finally Begins

**07: The Training Finally Begins**

He was ridiculously excited for a Monday morning. While Kuzuha slouched through the hall into the bathroom after him, he greeted her with a happy good morning to which she responded: "Brother, I know you have a girlfriend, but you don't have to be smug about it." Before he could react, she closed the door and he wouldn't certify her grumpiness with yelling.

"Why are you so happy, Yuuta. It's a miracle you even got up earlier than Kuzuha. So eager to see your beloved angel again?"

"I think beloved angel might go a bit too far." He couldn't say it had nothing to do with his happiness though. After their date, Nibutani had lingered, not wanting to leave yet, and he didn't try to make her leave. When the cold of the evening had set in, they had moved inside, lounged on the couch and talked about everything and nothing. When either of them had felt brave they'd whisper a sweet nothing at each other. That quickly stopped however after his mom had returned from work and she had emitted a soft giggle after those words.

"And it's not the only reason I'm happy you know."

"Yes, of course not, it's not like you're a teenager whose first girlfriend is super cute or anything?"

"It just sound creepy when you say that mom."

"I could make it a lot worse."

"You don't have to." He quickly said, grimacing.

It had been the truth though. After one of her 'caretakers' had shown up to at the door, she had pulled a folded piece of paper from her with his training schedule. He hadn't looked at it immediately, first escorting her downstairs. After one last kiss, she jumped into the limo that had also brought her.

His training schedule was rather simple, Monday and Tuesday, training with Nibutani (and possibly Rikka as aid). Wednesday he would be in Dekomori's hands. Thursday was weapon training with Nibutani and Rikka. Friday was Isshiki's day, so hand to hand combat.

His phone bleeped. A mail from Nibutani: "Morning wool head, I'll be waiting for you at the train station. Kisses."

He jumped up, surprising his mother who was placing a plate with a sub on it in front of him. He snatched it up. "I'll eat on the way, she's waiting for me."

"Easy guess who she is."

"Yes mom, I'm completely head over heels for her, could you let it go now." He said while rushing through the door.

She snickered as he left. "Boys will be boys."

* * *

She laughed as she saw him stumbling onto the platform. It was very endearing to see him like this, out of breath, from running to her, not even taking a minute to catch his breath before pulling her in for a hug. She answered his hug by squeezing him very hard, squishing his last breath out him. She let him go and he staggered out of her reach, dropping on an empty bench.

"Hi." She said smiling.

"Hi!" He responded between grasping air. "Trying to kill me first thing in the morning?"

"I would never do that. Merely hurt you a lot." A devilish grin replaced her innocent smile.

"Yeah, I don't really want to know. I'll just have to accept the black and blues, don't I?"

"Most likely, don't forget from today on your training isn't going to be a walk in the park anymore either."

"Shinka, that's for later, or are you telling me you don't have anything else to talk with me about."

She knocked him on his head as she sat next to him. "Of course I do, but why do I have to carry the conversation?"

"Because I'm a bland and boring protagonist."

"I have three issues with that."

"Oh really? Enlighten me?"

"You're neither boring nor bland else I'd never have shown interest in you in the first place. And why would you ever believe you're the protagonist?"

"Isn't everyone the protagonist of his own story?"

"You're not the protagonist in my story then?"

"Secondary protagonist, or at the very least important secondary character."

"Sometimes you're quite egotistical." She joked.

"Well, that's what you get when you date the most beautiful girl in Japan." He smiled.

"Oh? Not just the school?" A slight blush coloured her cheeks.

"Could you just accept the compliment."

"Oh fine!" She pushed him lightly. He slung away from her, and kissed her ever so slightly on the swing back. "Oh no you don't." She grasped him by the collar, and pulled him in for a lingering kiss. He answered immediately, grabbing a tight hold of her. She shifted her hand around his neck. Carefully she tried deepening the kiss, from which he shied away. Their kissing broke of and she stared angrily in his green eyes. He nodded his head slightly to signal behind her. She suddenly realized where she was, and looked around.

She blushed furiously as she realized people were staring at them, the younger ones very openly, but even the adults were watching them from the corner of their eyes. A bit off, a couple of their seniors stood giggling, sneakily pointing at them. She blushed harder, but Yuuta burst out laughing. She looked at him in disbelief. This was no laughing matter!

She pulled back to punch him, but he said, "You look so darn cute when you blush, that I might do this to you again." An older man snickered on hearing this. He threw them a look, "Don't worry lass, every boy likes to tease the girl they adore." She had to turn away now because she was absolutely sure her whole face had the colour of a tomato at that point. This gave Yuuta and the man another laughing fit. When the man realized he quickly downplayed his joy, although the twinkling in his eye remained. "I'm sorry, I'm just an old man having some fun."

Regaining her composure after being prodded by Yuuta, she said, "It's okay, sir. I'm getting quite used to being teased." Her eyes darted to Yuuta.

The man smiled broadly, "Lad, you better take care of this one."

"Naturally sir." The man reverted his attention back to the report he was holding.

"And what were you doing laughing, Yuuta?"

"I don't know, well, I do, I was laughing with you. But that's not something I'm supposed to say."

"No, it's not." She said exasperated.

"You were really into that kiss though. I'd like to continue that in a more private location."

"Oh yeah, so you can fondle me all-over right?" She said, sounding displeased.

He looked hurt. "You know I'd never do anything that you don't want."

She sighed. "I know, I was just agitated a bit agitated over my public embarrassment." She lowered her voice to a sweet whisper only he could hear. "But then again, who said I wouldn't want that?"

He looked at her disbelievingly, as their train pulled into the station.

"Let's go, my smitten boyfriend, else we'll be late."

* * *

The rest of the day was fun, even if they had classes. Every chance they had to sneak away, or hide in a dark corner they stole kisses. Eventually they were discovered though, confirming the rumours the girls had had for a while, and crushing the disbelief of the boys he had told. She happily announced their relationship, because she knew that public showings of affection would be possible now.

She had immediately used the privilege to snuggle up with him during lunch. Some stingy jealous stares were thrown by the boys, but some girls looked dejected as well. That in turn surprised Yuuta, and angered the girl by his side. She threw an angry stare at anyone who looked even a bit longingly at him. He patted her on the head. "No one is challenging you, and I wouldn't let myself get stolen anyway, calm down, sweetie."

With those words and by laying emphasis on the term of endearment he hoped to cool her down. She turned to him and said, "I know." She kissed him, a blaringly obvious claim on him. The girls all stared at them in disbelief. She pulled away. "Not so fast, my turn now." He kissed her. One of the guys yelled, "You lucky bastard." He grinned, and affectionately said, loud enough for everyone to hear, "As if I didn't know that already."

Every girl swooned, completely negating the effect of Nibutani staking her claim. She puffed her cheeks in anger, to which he responded by poking in them making her blow a raspberry. He quickly kissed her once more, and as always she melted under the touch of his soft lips. "Like you'd get the last one." She kissed him as well. He smiled at her and got up.

"Alright, if anyone has any problems with us, you can come talk to us, we won't bite. If not, I'd appreciate it if you all would stop staring at me and my girlfriend like we're under the scrutiny of the whole Tokyo Police Taskforce."

Most had diverted their attention then, the few who didn't were girls. All of those came to them, wishing them luck. One introduced herself to him, as Nibutani already knew her, as Kazari Kannagi, love advisor. If they needed any help they should contact her, sliding them a piece of paper with her mail address on it. She turned to Nibutani, "Don't worry, I do not hunt the same prey as you, I like girls." "I knew that already, we've been friends for the whole year." She laughed. "True, but I'll leave you birdies alone now." Kannagi said with a wink.

After that the day was eventless. Some murmuring by the guys, but none stepped forward, they were all aware of Yuuta's physical fitness, only being outshone by Isshiki. Therefor they had no other choice but accept reality.

Evening finally came around, and eager to start his training, he dragged Nibutani to the club room.

* * *

She pulled hard bringing him to a dead stop in front of the club room.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, at this point you have enough control to not accidentally kill someone or blow something up. You could go on living as a normal person from now, isn't that what you wanted?"

He frowned. I could quit? Do I want to quit? The path I'm on could be dangerous and I'm very aware of it. Then again, he wanted more strength, he wanted to be able to protect everyone he cared about. Especially the sweet, amber-eyed girl in front of him. She was studying, looking like she wanted to know what he was thinking.

"Like you'd ever be with me if you had thought I was going to give up." He said softly.

A tiny smile curled her lips. "Alright then, let's start."

They entered. Rikka and Dekomori both sat cross-legged waiting for them. Rikka rose, while Dekomori shifted them. They were in a hilly meadow.

"I thought, since we've been training mana control for so long already, we'll start with some combat training as an exception." Nibutani said. "Also, they have a gift for you."

As if that was a cue, Dekomori rose, and a longsword shifted into her hands. A black scabbard, cross guard and pommel had a copperish colour, separated by a maple wood handle, with enough room to use with two hands if he wished to.

"Watch out, it's heavy." She said as she handed it to him.

He almost dropped it immediately because of the weight. He held onto it however, shifting the load in his hands. He grabbed the handle and revealed the white-silver blade shining brightly. He felt the sword tug at his core, swallowing any mana that seeped from it naturally.

"What is it?"

"It's a blade Rikka asked me to make, for you. It's made specifically to train you. The sword is heavy to train you physically and it drains your mana constantly forcing you to increase your intake if you want to do anything, increasing how much you can pull… supposedly. I made it according to her instructions, though she only knows them from memories."

"So, I should not use this in a real battle?"

"Oh, if you master it, it's more versatile and stronger than most heavy two handed swords or broad axes. Chopping of a limb would probably be as easily as snapping a twig."

"Thank you." He said gratefully, glancing at Nibutani, who gave him a slight nod. That was enough for Dekomori.

"I hope you don't mind I christened it Ganjouna."

"I really don't." He was feeling gleeful.

"Well, perfect to start training with I guess then." Nibutani said with an evil smirk, "Fun and games are over now." She threw him some padded leather armor. He hardly strapped it on before she rushed him.

He narrowly deflected the blade of the spear, dropping the scabbard as he had to hold the sword with two hands to be able to keep it up. She followed up by slamming the staff of the training spear against his other shoulder. He stumbled away, but started focussing now, and pulled some mana, expelling it from his feet before the sword sucked it up. He jumped some distance backward, creating the distance needed for him to take position.

She was staring at him, her spear resting like a quarterstaff in her right hand. She raised her left hand, and shot lightning toward him. Raising one of his own hands he formed a deflective shield with his mana, and grunted under the strain it put him, with sword pulling at his magic power. The strike deflected and struck in the ground next to him.

He now rushed, as fast as he could at the very least. He raised Ganjouna in a slow overhead swing, looking for the moment she would sidestep. She moved only a moment before the sword struck the space she had occupied. He followed her movement, using the heavy sword now slammed into the ground as a pivot point, he twisted his body, aiming a swift kick at her temple.

She easily blocked it, pushing his leg away. He landed on two feet, and tried to land a hit by in one swift motion, pulling the sword loose and striking at her. She deflected that blow as well, making him stumble in close. She grinned, as she placed a slamming uppercut on him, making him tumble down the hill.

Some blood trickled from his lips, as he got up. "I can see how you won against a newborn Angel. You do have some rudimentary skill."

"Thanks, but I don't think I reached the same level as I did then."

"I'll just have to push you harder then." Her stance shifted, it felt like a lioness who had been playing with a cub decided it was time to take down an antelope. She was definitely going to hurt him now.

She shot forward like an arrow, rotating the spear in her hand, aiming it toward his intestines. He blocked it but slid a bit under the pressure of the strike. She pulled back, and as the following stab came toward him, he felt the shift in him. Just like when he fought the angel, Heliath, he felt invigorated by the battle. His sword seemed to lose weight, as he twisted it around, knocking Nibutani's spear upward. Twisting around, he slammed the flat side of his blade against her now unprotected side. And with a thud, she toppled over.

It was there that the shift ended as well. Slightly panicked he feared that he had hurt her.

"Do not let your guard down!" and a foot was driven in his stomach, making him fly off. With a heavy thwack he dropped to the ground a mere 5 meters off. Before he could recover, he felt the cold sting of steel against his neck.

"One win for me, Yuuta."

"That was unfair!"

"Yes, but that's what a battle is. A battle is never fair. You did better than expected though, I never thought you would actually succeed in hitting me. Next time I'm wearing armour as well."

Rikka walked up to them, "Yuuta, where did you learn using a sword?"

"I never learned it."

"Yeah, you say that, and although she was probably going easy, you shouldn't even have been able to block her first strike, never mind that last stab before you struck."

"I have never been instructed on the use of a sword, I swear."

"Rikka, some people just have some innate ability." Nibutani said.

"Nibutani, don't you find it odd, that this one seems to have innate ability in everything? A grasp of everything, and improving faster than imaginable and most of the times even without any training."

"Do you want to test him maybe?"

"Sure. But in contrary to you, protecting your little pet, I will go all out. If you could, please make sure I don't accidentally kill him."

"Don't I have a say in this?"

"No!" they responded simultaneously.

He sighed, changing his grip and taking up position. "Well?"

"Oh, eager are we?" A blackish short sword appeared in Rikka's hand, seemingly styled like a gladius. A grin grew on her face. The eye patch burst off her face. The golden eye tried to drill him in his place. He felt the pressure, but forced himself not to look away. As soon as her muscles contracted, he once more felt the shift.

The gladius dove toward his head from behind him, Rikka's afterimage fading slowly. Unbeknownst to him, she had ran around to attack him from behind. His arms however, were raised, blocking the black blade. He didn't even feel the pressure.

He pushed back, and she gave way an inch, enough for him. He grabbed her arm and pulled her off balance in a smooth motion, freeing his blade. He flung his sword downward, but she had recovered fast enough. Her black blade shot upwards, blocking his, the pressure made her heels dig into the sand.

She flicked her wrist, the sword was torn from his hands and her cold black steel rested on his neck.

"He's being protected by something or someone." Her face stood pensive.

"What do you mean Rikka?" Nibutani responded.

"As long as you don't attack him with lethal force he's left to fend for himself, although he'll improve without our training again as well. It's like knowledge seeps into him constantly. But anyway, when we use lethal force, something will prevent us from touching him. He couldn't follow me with his eyes, yet he blocked that strike."

"How were you able to disarm him then?"

"He may have skills and knowledge, the body is too untrained to be able to use those skills."

"Alright, so to bring out his full potential training his body is more important than his skills?"

"We can do both at the same time as long as he uses the sword. For the first couple of weeks at least."

"Rikka? Could you remove your sword now please?" Yuuta tentatively asked.

With a snarl she made the sword disappear. "You train him for now Nibutani. He's so weak he'll spoil my appetite."

"Fine! Off with you then." But Rikka had already shifted away.

"Alright Yuuta, let's take a short break before continuing. And go pick up your sword."

"Yes ma'am."

* * *

His skin still felt itchy, although all his cut and bruises were healed before they had left the Otherworld. Nibutani was smiling at him, resting in his arm in the back of the car she had let them pick up.

"You did well, Yuuta." She said noticing him scowling at her.

"Well? Well? You didn't even try hard." After that first time he had hit her, he had been unable to hit her again. As soon as Rikka had left, she mellowed out and started teasing him when she won. Every time she had slapped him into the ground they rested, stealing kisses.

"Yes, I did!" She said, with a small quiver in her voice. He knew she was lying.

"You didn't even use your good spear."

"Yes, but that's because then I'd most likely have killed you." She said without blinking.

"Yeah… I always forget how scary you can be if you want to."

"Don't forget that even though I'm strong, the strongest in the Temple, the Organisation has many powerful ones as well, and quite a few stronger than me."

"Like Rikka?"

"I was thinking of her sister, but naturally also their upper echelon. They were the ones who implanted the Wicked Eye in Rikka, and no sane ability user who wouldn't be able to beat the results if the implementation went wrong wouldn't do it."

"Anyway, speaking of Rikka, why did she have Dekomori make me that blade?" He didn't dare trying to summon it, fearing it would break the back axel of the car.

"I don't know. Rikka does things for her own reasons. It might just be because she thinks you'll be strong and she wants to fight you. You didn't tell her anything I don't know right?"

"No…" He said, it was true, well except for the black flames, but Rikka had said that it had been impossible, a mere hallucination due to the situation.

"You don't sound very convincing, but I'll trust you." She looked a bit dejected.

He pulled her closer, but when he tried to kiss her the driver interrupted them, "We're here."

"I guess I can't convince you to join me?" He asked.

She looked longingly, but pushed herself of him, "You don't think I'll be that easy right?"

"I wouldn't want it to be either."

She shook her head, "You're not easy to be with either."

"Oh really?"

"Yes." She kissed him quickly, "Now go." A sad smile crossed her face. He knew she'd probably get angry if he prolonged the goodbyes, so he returned the kiss and left the car. He closed the car door and the car took off. He waved at it until it left his sight, although he wasn't able to see her through the tinted windows.

He sighed. What to do, what to do, about this girl I love so true, he thought. Sighing once more he walked up the stairs to his apartment, tiredness of the day settling in his bones, and an unnoticed seed of something else in his mind.

Crawling into his bed as soon as he ate his food, he recalled the training, and though a lot about his feelings for Nibutani. Before he drifted off, a voice he knew but didn't recognize seemed to whisper, "Strength is not everything."

* * *

**Author's Notes**

This is starting to get scary. If I can keep up the rate I'm writing at, or maybe improve it just a bit more, there might actually be a chance that I'll publish something. Let's return to the story at hand though, before we go there. *cough* One chapter per month for 3 consecutive months is very miraculous. I think I might finally have started gliding into the role of 'writer'. This chapter mostly contained some shifts in Yuuta's social situation, and some foreshadowing. Leave a review with your thoughts on it, or if you wish to discuss certain aspects of the story, you can also pm me. If someone is interested in beta reading, they can apply through a pm as well. And as always

Thanks for reading


	9. 08: A Shift In Place

**08: A Shift In Place**

"I suggest we induct him at Captain rank. He's not quite strong enough to be a Captain-Commandant yet, though he'll probably take the test this month still. At that rank he can continue training with us as well without having to play with the other recruits." Nibutani said to the man opposite of her. The man had short kempt black hair with streaks of grey at his temples. While she was warleader, this man held a higher rank still concerning political matters within the temple.

"Inducting someone at Captain rank? Why should he receive that rank without any tests?" the man asked.

"I personally saw his growth, and his sheer power is enough to squish even our Captain-Commandants. His control isn't quite enough for elongated fights yet. Therefor I believe Captain rank would be the correct starting place for him."

"And your feelings for this boy have no influence on you, my daughter?"

"No, father. This man," She stressed the word, "is even more a prodigy then I was."

"I'll trust your judgement then." A knowing smile grew on his lips. "A man is he now?"

She blushed slightly, but answered as serious as she could, "You'll see it when you meet him soon enough, he's wiser than our age peers. You'd like him."

Settling in his fatherly role, "I don't think I'm going to like the boy who plans to steal my daughter."

"He's not stealing me father. Personality wise, you two are alike."

"We'll see, bring him in on Sunday. I'll induct him, does he know anyone from the order?"

"He and Walter are friends."

"Alright, I'll make sure that Walter is around to give him a tour of the facilities, and then dinner at the restaurant?" He said while standing up, tall as he was, towering over her own 165 centimetres with his almost 2 metres, his broad shoulders still as strong as they had been in his youth.

"Seems good, I'll mail him the details."

"Good. See you tonight at home." He tussled her hair slightly. She stared up to him defiantly.

"I'm not a kid anymore dad."

"Of course not." He grimaced as he left the antechamber, through the door to his office. He heard the door to the hallways close as well. His daughter was a wilful one. But then again so had his wife been when he met her. He sighed deeply at his desk full of reports, notes and other documents. He weaved some fire into the fireplace of grey cut stone. His office was very meagrely furnished. A couple of filing cabinets against the far wall, a heavy desk, and matching chair. Tucked into a corner was another smaller chair, rarely used.

If it had been possibly he'd have this room redecorated, with seating cushions and the like, similarly to his private dining room, but just like the antechamber, working like that was impossible according to himself. He had stubbornly tried until his wife had simply thrown it all out. That had been shortly before her death.

That thought made him glance to the picture on the mantle of the open fire. A younger him, not yet grey, arm around the middle of a lithe woman, her long brown hair braided, and slung over her shoulder, framed a smiling face, with fierce amber eyes. In between them a young girl, the same eyes as the woman whose skirt she was holding onto. "She has grown into a fine woman." He said to the picture.

With a last glance he seated himself, and started skimming through the documents, sorting them by importance. That didn't take long, as most of the documents were not important enough for him to take a look at personally. One thick binder he kept though, although it shouldn't be important either. He summoned a servant, and divided the documents under the generals, some even going to his daughter.

The servant called some help and when four people finally divided the heaps of paper between themselves they disappeared quickly. Left alone, he lounged into his chair, grabbing the thick binder. He opened it, being greeted by a picture of a boy, with dark brown hair, shaggily framing a friendly face, green eyes shining. Yuuta Togashi. He had some reading to do before tomorrow, as he started to sift through reports of the boy.

* * *

He nervously adjusted his tie, which provoked Walter standing at his side to snicker. "Nervous, Togashi-san?" They had become friends through their numerous sparring sessions, with Walter still winning every single time. Their fights had however become more evenly throughout these first two weeks of training.

"In fact I am. I don't know what this'll change for me, linking myself to an organism like this, and that's when I ignore the fact that I'm meeting the father of my girlfriend."

"Nervousness doesn't suit you though." Walter said. "Listen, Yuuta," he continued, increasing the familiarity between the two of them, "you may have not noticed yet, but we all have. Ask the Wicked Eye, Dekomori-sama, Isshiki-san or even Nibutani-sama herself. You are a born fighter. Whenever you are unaware, you're demeanour changes into that persona, holding himself up like the soldiers of old."

"That doesn't help me now Walter." Yuuta silently exclaimed, looking over his shoulder, only to see a heavy grin on the older man's face. "Why are you laughing?"

"Because during those brief moments, where you are who you are, I'd serve you with my life. Combining that with the wee frightened teenager in front of me is just… funny."

"I…" His answer was interrupted by a young girl pulling open one of the heavy doors.

"Togashi Yuuta, you may enter." She closed the door and disappeared around a corner in the corridors immediately.

"Good luck in there. I'll wait for you at the entrance of the temple for your tour." He made a mocking bow and left with a smile on his face.

Yuuta walked up to the doors. "A born fighter?" He sighed heavily, steeling his nerves. He pushed the doors open, sealing himself in that void he knew from battles, where he felt safe.

* * *

The doors opened the moment he sensed the presence behind it grow. Both Nibutani Takahiro and his daughter Shinka focused on the boy standing in the opening. The boy let his eyes wander, seemingly relaxed. He moved forward, the graceful steps of someone born with a blade in his hand. He didn't seem to respond to the pentagram inlaid with dark blue stone into the floor, except for a slight sign of recognition in the green eyes. His daughter leaned forward, watching the boy move closer at a leisurely pace.

When he reached the dais they were on, he sunk on his right knee, clapping his right fist to his left shoulder, and placing his left hand on the ground next to his left foot. His voice without trembling announced, "Togashi Yuuta has answered your summon, Shochou and Shogun."

He saw why his daughter insisted on calling him a man and not a boy. Using their ceremonial titles, which they themselves never used. Just referring to themselves as leader and war leader. Kneeling like that was how one deferred to his superiors in the old days.

He shifted in his seat, folding his hands in front of his face, "Rise, Togashi Yuuta." He studied the man in front of him. The green eyes set in determination, with defiance sparkling, but with enough deference to not offend.

"So you have come to join our temple?"

"Yes." He answered, seemingly perfectly relaxed, a slight smile toward his daughter before returning his gaze to him.

Gesturing toward Shinka, "Her opinion is that we should induct you as a Captain. She claims you are fit for the role. While I don't doubt her, I wish to see your talents for myself. Do you mind a little test?" The doors slammed open again, and eight men walked in, all eight Captains. They immediately surrounded the boy and made small cuts in the palm of their hands summoning a variance of weapons and armour.

An amused smile curled his lips, as Yuuta opened his mouth to respond however, "Father! What do you think you're doing? You said you trusted my judgement!"

"Shinka-san," he emphasized, "do you really think I'd get him hurt, or even killed?"

She gritted her teeth, "Takahiro-san, who said I was talking about him? I told you he was stronger than our Captain-Commandants, he will crush these fools." She had witnessed his growth. She had seen him, in these past two weeks, surpass himself several times over. You might think he was acting cocky, but these eight aren't even on his radar. The rate of his improvement was scary.

"You also said he won't be able to fight for longer periods of time. A fight against eight people should drag on for a while."

"Nibutani-sama, I find your lack in confidence disturbing. We will defeat this pleb easily!" One of the Captains yelled, a thin moustache under a large nose, a rapier held in front of him. This man had no idea what he was getting into. The only reason she didn't suggest inducting him as a Captain-Commandant was that he needed some training in bureaucracy before attaining that rank.

"I meant when he has to fight against opponents who he needs to use his full strength on. But fine do whatever you want." She dropped herself back into her chair, muttering quietly. As long as he didn't use Ganjouna that flaw didn't exist either, yet letting him use that now? He'll kill someone accidently.

"Yuuta?" she called out.

"Yes, Shinka?" His smile grown into that grin she knew well. He was itching to test his strength against multiple opponents.

"Don't call her that you pleb." Yuuta turned to him, staring blankly at him, grin still on his lips, and the captain shuffled backwards slightly. He glanced back at her with slightly raised eyebrows.

"Don't use Ganjouna, please."

He actually laughed now. "If you don't want me to, I won't, but I can't promise I won't hurt them even if I only use the boken. Do I need to leave spells behind as well?"

"No, just don't overdo it."

"Alright." He summoned the boken he got from Heliath, dubbed Shirobuchi by him, and the leather armour he got from her, and the other seven captains shuffled backwards as well. Bloodless summoning wasn't something they were capable of, especially not in the real world, and it immediately set up the difference between the man and the group around him.

Takahiro lent forward in interest. "Well? When are you going to defeat this pleb, my Captains?"

"Takahiro, may I suggest we shift before we start this fight? At the very least their injuries will heal faster there. And we'll still have this hall by the end of it." His daughter offhandedly said.

With slight surprise he twisted in his chair to look at her. He waved her toward him and in a hushed tone asked, "Is he really capable of doing that much damage?"

Nothing but a slight nod as an answer. She returned to her chair, plodding down.

"We're shifting!" Takahiro said loudly, weaving the flows to shift everyone at once. "Vanishment this world!"

* * *

They stood in a ruined town. Takahiro and Shinka were sitting in two heavy armchairs that had seen better days, overseeing the others through a collapsed wall on the first floor of what seemed to have been a town hall once.

Yuuta and the eight Captains were standing in the town square. Yuuta drove his blade into the ground and held his hands up to show he was unarmed. "I'm Togashi Yuuta. I have the tendency to show respect to all of my opponents and I'd like to hear your names before we fight."

"I'm not playing to give my name to you pleb." The man with the thin moustache called out, his brave face returning.

"Oh shush Shoichi-san." A young woman, her long black hair tied away in a ponytail, standing to the left of him said, "He's only showing us respect. I'm Nashima Aika." She lowered her brandished katana and wakizashi. "His name is Shoichi Akehiko." She nodded to the person to her.

Spinning a mace in his hand the burly man introduced himself as Ito Nakashim. The man next to him, having the same curly brown hair, introduced himself as the younger twin. Ito Nokashim was his name and he used flails. From the tool belts they wore it was easily deduced they were craftsmen.

A woman without a weapon curtsied slightly. "I'm Saito Arai." She seemed slightly older that Aika, and since she didn't have a weapon Yuuta concluded that she only used spells. Was it overconfidence or did she not learn how to use a weapon?

"I'm Kubo Kenji!" The heavy shouldered man next to her bawled, his heavy voice reverberating. Standing taller than Takahiro at 2 metres 10, the man seemed skilled at using his double war axes. He however didn't look like the brainy type.

A silent woman, light brown hair tied up in a bun and thinly framed glasses covering devastating red eyes. Yuuta stared back as well as he could, but he could feel his persona crack under that gaze. "My name is Ueno Hana." She said, and he was more than glad that he could redirect his gaze to the last Captain.

He bowed, flourishing his coat, and introduced himself as Fujii Dai. A short sword held loosely at his side and a belt stuffed with throwing knives seemed to be his weapons.

Yuuta smiled. "It's an honour to meet you, and it will be an honour to fight you." He retrieved Shirobuchi from the ground, brandishing it.

Takahiro, who had been observing, nodded. "Are we prepared for this test now?"

Yuuta nodded and the eight Captains answered with a loud "Yes sir!"

"Begin!" Takahiro's voice boomed.

Yuuta disappeared from the circle immediately. He was moving so fast even Shinka was surprised, but then again, he was not weighed down by Ganjouna. The eight Captains simply rested, letting their senses scan the environment. This was not the first time they'd fought a faster opponent.

They all started drawing on their cores however, filling themselves with mana. Suddenly Saito Arai brought her hands together at her hips, a mana blast charging into her folded hands, just as quickly she brought her hands forward, twisting a quarter. The lightning blast arched round Nokashim, and crashed into a small building. The house crumbled down, a dust cloud forming.

Yuuta stepped forth from the cloud, unscathed. It was now that Nibutani realized what she had done by making him use Shirobuchi. Whilst Ganjouna was the more dangerous weapon, he was still too weak to use it to its full potential. With Shirobuchi there were no leashes to his power. She would see his real power now. And she felt frightened.

* * *

He waved Shirobuchi with the little mana he was holding, for his accelerated movement, to clear the dust cloud. He grinned, extended one hand and gathered all the mana he could control. He encased Arai with it immediately and raised one hand, thickening the flows, weaving a massive blast.

The other Captains moved away as fast as they could as he loosened the blast of his unrefined mana. A white blueish beam, streaked with red sheared through the air. Arai only now noticed she couldn't move at all. The blast expanded, ripping through the ground.

The blast encompassed Arai, dragging her of her feet. She slammed into another one of the buildings, the inn, was his guess. The force pushed further, shredding the building, propelling her through it. When the blast finally dissipated, the outskirts of the town were clearly visible. Arai wasn't visible in the distance though.

He twirled Shirobuchi blocking Aika's katana easily. He heard Shinka yell, "Yuuta! I told you to not overdo it!" He ignored her as he pushed Aika away. She twisted around as to be ready to block his counter strike.

He however shot off forward toward Shoichi, who raised his rapier in defence. Yuuta slashed and the rapier shattered. Using the momentum of his slash, he followed his slash, with a heavy left hook. He felt Akehiko's jaw bone crack under the pressure of his punch, before his body followed, slamming into the ground floor of the town hall.

He felt the twins behind him, turning, he narrowly blocked Nokashim's flail, but the chain wrapped around his blade. Shirobuchi made useless he ducked under Nakashim's strike. Placing his hands on the ground he twisted, extending his legs, delivering a kick to both faces, and sending them skidding through the dirt in opposite directions.

Aika was back upon him, twirling her blades, he dodged the first strike from the katana, ignored the feint with the wakizashi, and sidestepped the second strike. In that instant he made a cutting motion with his hand at her wrist. Once more he felt the bones break under his strike. The wakizashi whirled from her hand.

He sped away again, picking Shirobuchi up from where it was flung when he knocked out the Ito brothers. He tried to move again but stopped just before a spear dug into the ground in front of him. He blocked the kick from Ueno Hana who had followed her weapon, and grabbed her leg. Pulling hard, he slung her toward Akehiko, who had struggled upright. She slammed into him and they both tumbled down, raising a small dust cloud.

He side stepped and Kenji's axes cut the air he had occupied moments before. He faced the massive man. Kenji started wildly hacking in his general direction, relying on his strength. One hit, and his opponent would be gone. Yuuta blocked the first strike that would've actually hit him, letting the axe slide of Shirobuchi. The massive man tumbled forward, and Yuuta struck his neck, with the back edge, knocking him out cold.

The twins were struggling upright. Nakashim charged him and he felt Aika approaching from behind. He readied himself to dodge to the sides. Nakashim reached him and started bringing down his mace, he heard the wind whistling from Aika's katana. He wanted to dodge, when suddenly Dai's throwing knives swished past him, blocking his ways out.

He adjusted, grasping the shaft of Nakashim's mace and deflecting Aika's strike. Nakashim took a wide stance, and tried to free his weapon from Yuuta's hold. Yuuta slid through his open legs, pulling the brute with him. Nakashim tumbled toward Aika, who narrowly dodged the man. He fell hard and didn't move immediately, so Yuuta banned him from his thoughts.

Nokashim running at him, his flail spinning above his head. Yuuta, made a small cutting motion with two fingers while he was getting up, cutting the chain of the flail with his mana, launching the heavy orb upward. Nokashim's charge didn't falter though, and Yuuta accelerated away before Dai pinned him down again. Where was Dai anyway? He thought to himself.

Nokashim seemed to have picked up his brother's mace and was approaching cautiously, flanked by Aika and Hana. Nokashim not being skilled with a mace, was easily seen through when he raised the heavy weapon above his head. Yuuta accelerated forward, slamming his fist upward into the burly man's stomach. Nokashim doubled over, and Yuuta punched again. The lights behind Nokashim's eyes faded and the burly man sunk to the ground.

Aika and Hana moved quickly, flanking him, trying to get him in a pincer attack. He stabbed Shirobuchi into the ground, and extended his arms toward them. Firing two blasts, weaker than the first but still strong enough to beat either of them. Aika narrowly dodged hers, only slightly burning her shoulder, but Hana was too late, she was pulled along and slammed into one of the buildings. She struggled, and almost got up, before dropping back against the building.

Aika's sword arm was uninjured and she approached quickly. He readied himself to intercept her assault. The whistling of the blades warned him this time, as he narrowly dodged another set of thrown knives. Distracted that single instant, Aika moved up striking at him. He blocked and countered, she deflected.

She started another strike but he didn't give her a chance. He stepped forward slashing at her shoulder. She interrupted her strike, in a desperate move to block his strike. She succeeded, but was brought of balance now. A sweeping kick send her tumbling down, and he knocked her out with a pommel strike to the base of her neck.

He sauntered away from his knocked out enemies. Throwing knives shot out at him again, but Dai didn't show his face. Yuuta deflected the blades easily now that he didn't have to divide his attention. Reaching the middle of the square he lobbed the ball of Nokashim's flail upward, jumped after it, and twirling around in mid-air, kicked it in what seemed a random direction.

The ball sliced through the air and crashed into a bell tower. The tower collapsed completely, and a slight glimpse through the dust curtain showed Dai tumbling down as well, the ball still firmly lodged into his abdomen.

He turned, making his armour and Shirobuchi disappear and bowed. Takahiro had an appreciating look in his eyes.

"Well Togashi-san, you definitely passed this test with flying colours." He said.

"Well done Yuuta!" Shinka followed up, jumping down and into his arms, he twirled her around before setting her back down.

"Shogun Shinka-san, would you please go check the status of our companions, and bring them here if possible." Takahiro interrupted their celebration. "Togashi-san, wait here until she returns please."

Yuuta sat down and folded his legs underneath him, in the middle of the carnage he had created.

* * *

She sped over the shredded earth from his first blast looking for traces of Arai. The blast had expanded further with the distance it had travelled.

His power was unbelievable. If they hadn't been forcing him to use Ganjouna he should be able to beat Walter. She had always believed that Ganjouna only sapped about fifteen percent of his magical strength but it seemed to be closer to seventy percent.

His physical strength was at another level altogether after training with Ganjouna. He had easily broken several bones, and even shattered a jawbone, which is one of the strongest bones in the human body, even more so in the bodies of Ability Users.

She arrived at the outskirts of the village, and saw Arai, covered in dust she sat against a half ruined building. "How are you still in one piece?!" Shinka exclaimed as she rushed to her side. Arai looked up slightly distraught, "Him! He protected me! That blast wrapped me up and dragged me away, when it finally drilled through the last building it discarded me here. I think I got knocked out when I slammed into the ground. Is the fight over?"

"Yeah. I was sent to check on all of you. I thought you'd be most hurt but the opposite is more likely the truth. He broke Shoichi's jaw." Nibutani told her as Arai crawled on her feet.

"Alright I'll come help you look for everyone Nibutani-sama." Arai deferred to her.

"Only Fujii-san is still unaccounted for. The rest is either unconscious, and stuck in a building around the square, or weaponless and heavily wounded around there as well."

"Nibutani-sama?"

"Yes, Arai-san?"

"Who is that man?"

"He could be a lot. But for now he's simply a strong , unbound Ability User and my boyfriend."

"Oh… I wouldn't be able to be with him…"

"Why not?"

"Have you ever fought him?"

"Often, why?"

"Because he scares me. Not completely vaporizing me with that blast is actually harder than just doing it. This means that even that blast was him holding back, and Nibutani Takahiro-sama told us that he's only been training for a couple of months."

"About five weeks actually. This was the first time I've seen him at that level of strength though. Frankly, he scared me a bit as well. Still I'd be able to crush him, so that fear merely exists because of his rate of growth. In another five weeks, he'll be as strong as me. And if he pushes on at this rate, he'll be strong enough to crush most elites of our temple at the same time in another ten."

They had almost reached the square when Arai stopped. "Nibutani-sama? Please keep him leashed to us. If he ever turns against us… we won't survive it I fear. Even if your other protégé helps us. Even The Wicked Eye will fall to him some day."

Arai had a slight talent in foretelling, that has nothing to do with her being an Ability User. It was the reason she was a Captain, and it lent weight to her every word. Not all her predictions came true, and some suspected that her talent was growing short lately, that she had lost an edge.

Shinka had only once before spoken casually with Arai, and at that time Arai had been a bit more mentally balanced. Shinka had only once before spoken casually with Arai, and at that time Arai had been a bit more mentally balanced. Since then, Arai's vast mana pool had caused her to accidentally blow up part of her house, injuring her then husband. The man had immediately divorced after discovering her true occupation.

They walked further on Shinka's signal entering the square again. It seemed that Kenji had gone to pick Fujii after being woken up forcefully by Aika. She stood in front of Yuuta, using her katana as a crutch, speaking about his swordsmanship from the fragments she heard. Fujii sat on the ground, clenching his stomach, breathing heavily. Ueno and Shoichi were talking, or maybe Ueno was lecturing him, since Shoichi wasn't going to be talking for some time, unless his healing was aided.

The twins seemed to have recovered mostly already and were discussing the broken weapons, Nokashim held the ball and handle of his flail, studying the rests of the chains still attached. Nakashim was holding the handle of Shoichi's rapier, apparently tasked with its repair.

Heavy laughter sounded from Kubo, as Fujii doubled over once more, spitting out whatever still rested in his stomach, and a load of blood. Fujii might need a blood transfusion, but all of them had seen worse during raids and battles in the Otherworld.

Her father still rested in his seat, observing the décor in front of him. Oh how she wished she knew what that man was thinking. He was always so secretive, with the trial today, but other things as well. Yuuta had that trait as well. He always acted casual, but at times she knows there is something deeper within her lover.

She jumped back up, and retook her place next to her father. She motioned Yuuta to approach. He walked toward them, but stopped before he actually had to look up at them. The eight captains gathered in a semi-circle behind him, Fujii supported by Kenji with a massive had around the lithe man's shoulder. Kubo still wore a smirk.

"Nashima Aika, I believe you are the leader of this… 'delegation'. Do you deem Togashi Yuuta capable enough to join our order?" Her father stated ceremoniously.

"Nibutani Takahiro Shochou-sama, I deem this man more than worthy to be inducted into our order." Aika responded.

"Togashi Yuuta, I hereby grant you the rank of Captain-Commandant, with all privileges and obligations attached. You will receive all necessary information from either Walter or your Shogun. Welcome!"

* * *

**Author's notes**

Well... writing this was quite an adventure. I've been weavin writing and studying for a month now, and it has significantly slowed my progress down (I have several exams I have to redo... damn you math!). This chapter is highly experimentive in nature. We have the introduction of several Original characters to flesh out the cast, and we see some of the inner workings of the temples. My voice (or writing style) also changed quite considerably this time around. As you might know writing this story is mainly a me searching myself as a writer so my voice might change more. Originally I planned this chapter to be longer but as it already is the longest in the series I decided to move some things to the next one. Please let me know what you think of this chapter, as it is the first I heavily deviate from the beaten path. Please leave a review, or send me a pm if you'd like to discuss a certain aspect (I always welcome it) and as always, my dearest readers,

Thanks for reading


	10. 09: A Test Beyond

**09: A Test Beyond**

She turned to the grumbling boy beside her, whose persona had completely imploded as soon as they were left alone. Rustling through a heap of papers that were pushed into his hands by Aika as soon as he entered the office of their section, he smiled a rueful smile before focusing again on the words on the papers. The ninth Section of the twelfth Division had not had a Captain-Commandant for a while, and was led mostly by Aika, who seemed glad to pass on the responsibility. With a sigh she thought back on the events of the day.

* * *

The doors of the hall closed behind her and Yuuta, who sighed heavily. He smiled at her as he settled back into his usual personality, the incredibly relaxed schoolboy. "That went better than I expected."

"Better? You weren't supposed to fight anyone, and definitely not get a Captain-Commandant rank yet."

"Oh, because I can't handle it or something?"

"Hardly, and you know that. Your power is overwhelming, I don't get how you haven't beaten Walter yet."

"It's because I had to use Shirobuchi. I felt so light, it was so easy to move, there was no strain when using my mana, I felt… alive."

"Well, you've been using more of your mana than ever before, so that's understandable. But that's not what I wanted to talk about." She signalled him to follow her as she started walking toward the entrance of the temple. "You see, at Captain rank, you'd most likely have been dumped in some section where the Captain-Commandant would have not given you any responsibilities whatsoever since you're a newbie."

"And now?"

"See, there is a Section that's been missing it's Captain-Commandant for close to a year. And while Nashima-san has been leading it, you are going to get that position, if I know my father even a little."

"So? I can lead some people if you can lead this whole temple."

"I don't doubt you can Yuuta, listen though, I wanted to prepare you. There's a whole load of political dribble you might be dropped in now, and believe me, even you'd need some preparation. But hey, practical experience is the best experience I guess. I'll guide you where I can, but I can't really start using my influence at that level."

"It'll be fine. I'm sure Aika-san won't leave me to the wolves."

"Aika-san?"

They reached the entrance where Walter was waiting. He was lazily leaning on a wall, staring up into the sky. He stood up as he noticed them, and with an uncharacteristic broad smile, he shook Yuuta's hand congratulating him. "I must be honest, I'm a bit surprised you're the same rank as me now, Yuuta-kun."

"Oh, it's Yuuta-kun now?" Yuuta answered with a smile on his face as well.

"Well, I can hardly keep calling you Togashi-san now that we're equals, right?"

A slight cough from Shinka interrupted their conversation. "Best you keep calling him Togashi-san in public though."

"One of your political advisements?" Yuuta asked.

"Nibutani-sama, I think you've lost your grasp of the politics in the lower classes. He's going to need alliances. Aika-san, an old friend, has said he'll be heading her Section, so we can ally ourselves within the twelfth division at least. With him being your boyfriend he'll receive quite some scorn from the others. Aika-san was going to talk with the rest of your section though, to help you." Walter said.

"Which section do you head, Walter?"

"The fourth, but let's start that tour. Well… how about we just tour the buildings of the twelfth division. You'll hardly spend any time anywhere else. And if you're needed somewhere else, you now have a ton of subordinates who will tell you what you need to know." Walter snickered.

"Before you guys get away and I lose my boyfriend for another hour or so, I have a private question for him." Shinka stopped them.

Yuuta's eyes widened slightly, but shrugging his shoulders he followed her a short bit. As soon as Walter was out of sight she pulled his ear down harshly.

"Aika-san?" She questioned menacingly

He laughed. "Sweetie, no reason to be jealous. She insisted. And she's like ten years older than us."

"You don't get to first name-basis so quickly with just another person." She growled.

"We only use Walter's first name. Also, we were talking for quite a while when you went to pick up Saito-san." He explained calmly.

"Fine." She grumbled, letting go of his ear. He rubbed it, but never stopped smiling. She opened her mouth to complain, but no more sound then a surprised squeal came from her, as Yuuta suddenly picked her up and twirled her around. He held her up for a minute and kissed her, making the complaints sink away. "Never be jealous, your boyfriend isn't as cute as my girlfriend." And he took off, leaving her speechless.

"An interesting man, and an amusing boy so it seems." She heard her father's voice behind her. She blushed deeply. Turning on her heels she glared at her father. "What did I do wrong this time?" He said apologetically.

"Alright, first of you snuck up on me…"

"Which I would never have been able to do if he hadn't been distracting you!" he exclaimed in surprise.

"Shut up dad, I'm talking."

He raised his hands in a settling gesture, "Alright alright, I'm listening."

"What's with the test you suddenly decided to do? Eight Captains? Eight?! None of the other Captain-Commandants had to go through such a strenuous test. Speaking of, why induct him at Captain-Commandant rank? Do you have any idea what kind of position you put him in now? What if one of our own had gotten hurt? Why didn't you trust on my word?" She rambled on, slowly lessening in volume.

"Done?" He asked, smirking. Panting from her discourse, she glared at him but nodded nevertheless.

"To start, I do trust your word, like I said. If I didn't he would've been fighting a single captain and not eight. Next, because I trust your word, I inducted him at Captain-Commandant rank. I'm very aware of his current position, which is also why I did it. Power is not all in this world, I want to see him handle other things as well. That's always a possibility, and they were all aware of the possible danger. Well except for Shoichi-san, who was told that you had a suitor I didn't approve of."

Her glare deepened. "And what would he, of all people, have to do with that?"

"Nobly born people have this odd idea about marrying someone of equal or better status. You'd definitely been an upgrade for the Shoichi family." He calmly said.

"And you made him think I wanted to marry into his family?!" Her yell echoed through the halls.

"Calm down. I never said such a thing… I merely implied it to manipulate him." Takahiro said.

"Father, for the last time. You don't need to manipulate any of your subordinates to do as you wish, it's their job to do so." She responded, still in shock, but annoyance returning.

"True, but where is the fun in that?" He said as he started laughing. With a humpf, she briskly walked away, leaving him laughing by himself.

* * *

"Aika-san, are you serious?" He said, glancing at the stack of papers she was handing him. "I'll help you sort through them, but all of these reports are going to be have to be read and checked by you, and most likely cross referenced with older documentation of the section, or even the temple. All of our sections paperwork is in those filing cabinets behind you and against that wall."

Half of walls of the office he had been given were covered with filing cabinets. Square in the middle of the room a small desk was placed and a comfortable chair still remained behind it, currently occupied by Yuuta. To his left, he had a window, showing the training courtyards of the Twelfth. To his right, beside the filing cabinets, at the end of the wall, there was also the door that led to the shared office of the Ninth Section, where Aika and a couple of other captains sat, to help him. He had to address those others tomorrow and he could feel his stomach churning.

The other wall was covered with timetables and maps, most likely important one way or another, but he couldn't claim to care at the moment.

"Alright, see all these blue envelopes? There invitations from the other Captain-Commandants of the Twelfth, who will probably want to meet you early, those we can lay aside till tomorrow. Other colour envelopes are from the other divisions, you can leave those till even later. The red covers are reports, requests, necessities,… of the Ninth. Read and respond correctly. Green covered files are orders or reports from higher up the line, and blue ones are orders or reports from this division. Very rarely reports from other divisions show up, but those are exceptions…"

Just as he started to tune out, Walter entered, holding both a blue file, and a blue envelop. Aika stopped her explanation with a slight sigh. "And why are you visiting us, Walter?" She asked.

"Is that any way to talk to your superiors Aika-san?" He said, to which she rolled her eyes. "I'm here for two things. First," He handed Yuuta the binder, "this is the report all of the other ranked members of the Division got about you, Yuuta-kun." He moved the binder to the stack he was going to take home, which Aika had already begun sorting.

"And what's the other thing Walter?"

"An invitation for a 'business' dinner tomorrow." Handing the blue envelop to him as well.

"Great, then I can ignore all those other ones." Yuuta said happily. "It's like these people don't realize I'm not going to be here all the time."

"Yuuta-san." Aika said to get his attention. "You're going to need to go through these tonight." The stack was smaller than he had expected. Three thin red binders, the thick blue one from Walter, and a green one.

"Thanks Aika-san. For the invitations you can let the others write up an appropriate response, since I'll be coming in around seven after dinner with Walter. If possible I'd like you to provide me with the personnel files of at least the Captains, yes that includes you, tomorrow. Next I'd like a comprehensive list of all the other members of the Section, until I have time to root through all their files as well."

"Understood sir." Aika reflexively responded as she scribbled the orders down.

"You can still call me Yuuta-kun in private though. 'Sir' sounds odd out of the mouth of friends. Oh and that whole explanation about the colour codes and so on?"

"Yes, Yuuta-kun?"

"Let one of the scribes draft up a legend for me, 'cause I forgot half of it already. Also, I'd like you to clean out these filing cabinets, get their contents sorted and labelled correctly, and leave a list of where's what on my desk. What colour of folder is not being used?"

"Why? Just name one and I'll say whether it's free or not."

"Ok, use a black folder for all the personal files I just asked, and black folders are from now on for my personal reports and orders."

"No one else has his personal filing colour, but I don't see an issue using black if you want to. Why though? Why not just use the colour of the division?" Aika questioned.

"Why? I don't know, but I'd like to think that getting a direct order or something of the sort from a superior has a better effect than just an order from somewhere up the line. A nameless voice, you might say, is less effective, then a voice you can place." Yuuta tried to explain.

"I can see where you're coming from." Aika responded thoughtfully, as Walter nodded slightly, with a pensive expression. "I have to ask though, why black?" and Walter listened curiously.

Yuuta looked down at his black suit, "I like black, and besides," he continued as he opened one of the desk drawers and pulled out a number of charcoal black empty folders, "these were here." He grabbed some paper, and wrote out some orders, signed and stuffed them in one of the folders. "Here, you can pluck some lower ranked people from wherever with this order, to help you clean up. I want it done by the end of the week." He got up and started toward the door.

"And where are you off to?" Aika questioned as Walter opened the door for him.

"Dinner plans with the Shogun and Shochou. I can hardly keep them waiting. Any additional information I need you can stuff in the black folder I expect on my desk tomorrow. Oh… and if you happen to have time, you can send those personnel files to the Peak Lounge. Walter will probably be serving us anyway, he'll get them to me."

"Yuuta-kun, I'm not your subordinate you know."

"You kind off are in the restaurant though. Remember when you called me Yuuta-sama because I told our little Shogun that your name wasn't Nigel?"

"A decision I still regret to this day." Walter snickered.

"Oh shut it, Nigel!" Yuuta laughed.

* * *

He was still wearing the suit, relatively neat still, but the shirt was wrinkled from being underneath his armour and his pants were a bit dusty from the fight. "Say, Walter, before I enter the private dining room, is there a place where I can fix my slight dishevelled appearance?"

"You could've asked in the temple, there are dressing rooms and the like there, as I explained. Or did you only just notice?" Walter answered. Yuuta responded with his best boyish grin.

"I'm not supposed to let anyone out back, but I suppose I'll let you come along for a second." He shrugged.

"So even fellow high-rankers can't come everywhere?" Yuuta asked as they passed through the kitchen.

"This is a real restaurant after all, the normal public comes here too. Also, our rank isn't that high. We're at the lowest rung of the middle class. But then again, rising from here is almost impossible purely on strength."

"What do you mean? Nibutani is the warleader because she is the strongest, right? Couldn't anyone just attain that level?"

"What have you heard about our ranking system?" Walter asked quizzically, as they entered a small locker room.

"The Wicked Eye explained that we used the demon's army ranks to rank all creatures, Angels, Demons and Roamers alike. I sort of assumed that just transferred to our temple system as well, since Nibutani made it seem like that was the case." Yuuta responded as Walter started rummaging through one of the lockers.

"You wrongly assumed that." As he tossed a clothes brush over his shoulder. Yuuta deftly caught the projectile. Walter leaned against the lockers, as Yuuta started straightening his outfit.

"You see, Yuuta-kun, while strength makes a difference on the lower rungs of the ladder, you've reached about as high as you'll reach on power alone. Politics play a much bigger role in climbing higher from now on. Now, you've got a link with the upper-class, your relationship with Nibutani-sama, and you've got me on this level. That said you shouldn't expect too much out of me, as you can guess from my position, I don't play politics that well, but I can help you with your plots if you want me to."

"Plots?"

"There is a reason why the temple is divided into so many Sections and Divisions. This fosters a competitive feeling within every little pawn from the chess set. We might be… bishops if we work hard. But the higher-ups won't see us as more."

"You want to use me as a pawn then, or do you want me to use you? And what does fostering a competitive feeling between the branches have to do with politics?"

"Basically they want us to fight our way to the top. It wouldn't be the first time complete Sections were wiped out when the political manoeuvring goes wrong. Why do you think your section was headless for so long."

"Ok, so why haven't you started your climb to the top yet? You've bested me in every duel so far, so power is not the issue."

"Hmm… I always disliked the branching structures of the temple. Of the temple council itself as well. No one actually listens to the leaders. We defer to them in person, yes, but behind their backs everyone does what he wishes."

"And what does that have to do with me?" Yuuta asked as he straightened his tie, and gave the brush back to Walter.

"You're change incarnate. At least, I have that feeling. See, your personal file colour, your closeness with your subordinates, your caring nature, and your strength all will lead you to become a great person. Even if you hadn't snagged up Nibutani-sama. The thing is, I believe you just might be able to pull ability users together, at least the Japanese ones. One day you might usurp the temple council. And like I once said before, it's such a man I'd serve to the end of my days."

Confused, Yuuta answered, "You're putting way too much pressure on me Walter. I'm just a kid, no matter how powerful you all think I am, or going to become. For now, I'd be happy if I don't drown in blue envelopes, and that's it." As he tried to lighten the mood with a sullen smile.

"Hmm. We'll see Yuuta-kun. You ready to go now?"

"Yeah, let's go." Yuuta nodded, as he tried to hide how ill at ease he felt. Meeting his possible future father in law and Walter idolising him as a leader of godly skill for the second time today was not good for his nerves.

* * *

"Your boyfriend is late."

"Your Captain-Commandant is late."

"This is not associated with the temple, so you can't blame me." Takahiro grinned.

Shinka sighed. "You always have an excuse."

"It's not an excuse if it's the truth. Anyway, where is the boy?"

"He mailed me half an hour ago that he was on his way with Walter. He should be here about now." As she shifted on the pillow she was sitting on. "Also, stop calling him a boy. He has a commanding position within your own organisation."

"Like I said, this and that are separate things. I may have accepted him as an Ability User, but that doesn't mean I accepted him as your partner."

"What are you planning this time around?" She asked suspiciously of her father.

"What do you mean?"

"Last time you acted like this, you attacked a person with 8 people who can blow up the average person on accident." She glared.

"Nothing, I'm planning nothing. I just need to check whether he's worth you or not."

"I'm not twelve, I can figure that out for myself."

"You're sixteen, no you can't."

"Oh sure, you trust me leading armies, but with a boy? No, that's impossible. What if he does something I don't want?" She acted out.

"You were saying he wasn't a boy, and that's not the issue. You're physically stronger, but your heart becomes weak when you're in love. I've seen it happen before." Takahiro grabbed her by her shoulder over the table. "Listen, I just want to protect you. I don't want to lose you too."

"I think you're overthinking this a bit, father, he's my boyfriend, and he's an exceptional Ability User. He'll be able to protect me just as well as you ever could before long." Shinka caressed her father's hand lightly.

A knock on the door broke the silence between them. "There you'll have him." Takahiro said.

The door slid open. "Captain Commandant Togashi Yuuta has arrived." Walter announced and her father waved them in. Walter entered and strut to the table with Yuuta cautiously following. It was obvious he felt uneasy and wasn't caught up in the persona he had donned during the trial. He leaned in for a quick kiss, and settled on the pillow next to her. Her father's expression hardened because of the kiss.

"So, Togashi Yuuta, you want to ask me for my daughter's hand." He asked.

Yuuta opened his mouth, closed it again, and then blurted out "Her hand might be too far for now, after all we've only been dating for about a month."

"Twenty-three days to be exact." Shinka specified.

"Yeah, 23 days. So uhm… I'd like for us to get along for her sake." Yuuta continued.

"I haven't decided your worth yet, Togashi-san. You impressed me this afternoon and Shinka says you're trustworthy, which is the only reason I did not pin you to the wall with whatever weapon I found first because you had the audacity of kissing her in front of me. Walter, what are you still doing here? Go fetch the food." Walter briskly walked out of the room, avoiding Takahiro's wrath.

"Father, we've kissed a whole lot more than just now, also, you didn't let Yuuta order. You even saw us in the temple." Shinka said.

"Shinka, you're not helping!" Yuuta exclaimed as he saw Takahiro's expression darken even more. "Listen, Nibutani-san", Yuuta started as he turned to Takahiro again, "I like your daughter, she seems to like me. I can't claim we will stay together forever, as we are still rather young, as is this relationship, and we might grow apart still. Nevertheless I can promise you this. I will do whatever is within my power to prevent her from getting harmed in any way."

The men stared at each other, her father glaring at her boyfriend, her boyfriend staring back, not flinching one bit. Although she noticed he was very nervous, it was not readable on his face, so she didn't think her father would notice. As if the men could hear her thoughts, they both glanced at her at that moment.

She shrunk back under their intense gazes. "Fine. Togashi-san, I'll permit you to date my daughter." Her father settled back forming a tent with his hands, his expression only softening slightly. "But hurt her, and I will murder you." He stated.

Stress seemed to flow out of the boy beside her. "I would say the same about my family. And her too, naturally." He aimed a slight smile at her.

"You are aware he's serious, right?" She asked him.

He turned to her father, "Of course I am. A man of his stature wouldn't lie or make empty promises." Her father's eyes narrowed, trying to pin him down.

"Togashi-san, are you testing me?" Her father questioned him. "It's only fair after this afternoon, right?" Yuuta responded. She looked at him strangely. Just seconds ago he was nervous to his core, and now he's testing her father, one of the most powerful men in this country. She grabbed his knee and pinched slightly.

His eyes shifted, a questioning look aimed at her, and she threw one right back. "Togashi-san, I do not appreciate defiance in a subordinate." Interrupting them. "Neither do I, they tend to get people killed." Shinka added. She saw that same flare in his eyes she had seen so much during their training. She pinched again, and shook her head slightly. His hands clenched, but he nodded.

"I wasn't trying to defy you, Shochou. I simply have respect for you, and your position, and I doubt you'd get where you are today if you were that way. I suspect you are an incredibly devious politician, and those kinds of people rarely get cornered by their own words and actions."

"Politics, Togashi-san? Why would you think that?" Takahiro was taken aback by Yuuta's words. "May I speak freely?" which got a nod in respond.

"You knew about me before today, had even gotten people to research me before meeting me today. That in conjunction to what you knew from Shinka her reports made you form an image of me. This image was, according to you good enough for your daughter, but you had to make sure, so you devised three tests." During the monologue Walter entered with three plates and something else under his arm, but Yuuta continued, Takahiro and Shinka listening closely.

"Test number one was the fight in the temple, you needed to see whether I had the strength and potential to protect your daughter."

Walter placed their plates in front of them.

"The second test is this dinner scene right here. Under the guise of meeting me as normal people would meet their daughter's boyfriends, you wanted to see how I would react in a socio-political situation in which I was the weaker party."

Walter waited behind Yuuta.

"The last test is giving me the Captain-Commandant rank against Shinka's advise. You want to see how I would react to a leadership position, how I would cope with it, as, if I'd ever stand beside Shinka I'd need to have capabilities in this area too." Yuuta extended his hand toward Walter, who gave him ten black folders and then walked away. "Thank you, Walter." Yuuta called after him, skimming through each quickly to see what the contents were, before layering them on the stack beside him.

Her father kept an eye on him, while reaching over the table to grab the uppermost folder. He opened and closed it in one movement, immediately recognising the personnel files within and threw it back on the stack. He leaned forward pinching the bridge of his nose and Shinka nodded appreciatingly at Yuuta, who answered the perceived compliment with one of his slight smiles.

"Togashi-san, I'm impressed." Her father finally said, as he raised his head.

* * *

After that the mood in the room shifted immensely. Her father relaxed, and instead of the test Yuuta spoke about, it actually felt like a normal family meeting on the surface. They talked normally, and although her father still probed, it wasn't excessive and Yuuta handled it deftly. Shinka didn't have to step in anymore and the flame in Yuuta's eyes snuffed out.

At the end of the dinner, it seemed like her father accepted Yuuta as her boyfriend. A satisfactory result for both of them. The clap of another folder closing took her out of reminiscing. "Well, I should not have been reading this in the car." He said.

"Car sick?" She asks, grinning.

"A bit," He smiles back, "but I need to make notes too. You guys put way too much information in these things, half of it is useless."

"Maybe, maybe not, it depends on what you want to do with that information. Something you'd understand, right?"

"Uhm? So tell me why is it useful to know…" he stopped for a bit as he pulled a folder from the bottom of the stack, "this." As he points to one of the page. The line he was pointing at was from Nashima Aika's admission form. It read 'She was wearing blue stripe underwear on this day'.

"Ok, maybe not all information is useful. But you could… I don't know, distract her during a fight with that information?" She tried justifying the report. His face showed he wasn't biting.

"Ok, not everything is useful." She admits. "Why were you reading those files anyway?"

"I need to know about my subordinates." He stated simply. "Don't you know about yours?"

"I know about some. I know you and Walter, and others I come in contact with on regular basis."

"No one else?" He asks.

"I can't know everyone!" she raised her voice in her annoyance, "Have you seen how huge this thing is you're part of? You have about 800 subordinates in total, I have fielded armies whose numbers count 15000 and up. Do you expect me to know everyone?"

"I didn't mean anything by it. It just seems like you feel lonely at the top. You didn't even know Walter's name before we ate in the Peak Lounge the first time." He answered back, calmly. "I know how big our temple is. If I'm not wrong, we could field about 130.000 people if necessary so those numbers you threw at me don't shock me."

"How much do you know by now?" She asked.

"I know everything about my eight Captains, know how much people are in my section, 784 at this moment, I know the structure, and I've fished out some plots other may be planning based on the information they've gotten about me."

"Why? Why are you so accepting of this all? Why do you just naturally roll through these things like you've known them you're entire life." She asked, eying him suspiciously.

"I am who I am, I guess." He shrugged, as the car stopped. "I don't know anything more about me than you do. In fact, I'd claim I know less, after reading the report about me." He kissed her and got out the car. "Get home safely, see you tomorrow." And he was off.

The car accelerated, with a pensive girl in the back.

* * *

He sighed, as he walked up the stairs to his apartment. He didn't know why he was so casual about all of this. It was exactly as she said, his mind just assimilated the knowledge presented to him as if it wasn't new. Like he was remembering things. He knew something was different about him from the start.

The questions all of his friends had about his powers, the questions that Shinka had about him and even Rikka, Wielder of the Wicked Eye, who has knowledge about ages past looks at him like he's some kind of strange beast at times.

He didn't care. He started training to protect his family from himself, then he started training to be stronger and protect his friends, who are all stronger than him. He will push on and on. Now his eyes were set on usurping power in the temple. He would protect everyone.

These thoughts were his. And yet he himself felt strange thinking them. They felt sharp, edged, in comparison to his laid back personality. Was he going insane, or was he just revelling in this life he dreamed of not so long ago? He didn't know.

He sighed once more. He was himself, and that was the end of that. He pushed the door open, being greeted by his youngest sister trying to tackle him to the ground. He laughed as he dragged her along into the warmth of his home.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

It's done! Somewhat the same voice as the last one, but highlighting different aspects of the story. I'm curious to see what you think about it. This also the first chapter I had an official beta reader, so a thank you to Lilith Mitchell for putting up with me as we worked on the corrections (you see, I'm quite stubborn sometimes). Leave a review or send me a pm with your thoughts, I'm always eager to hear from the people who spend the time reading this experiment of mine, and as always

Thanks for reading


	11. 10: The New Commander

**10: The New Commander**

He brandished his heavy blade again, ready to intercept another charge from his current training partner. A strong metallic clang sounded as he deflected his opponent's weapon, followed by the thud of the hammer striking the ground. Despite the weight of the weapon and the smallness of its wielder, the hammer struck up immediately, snaking under his defence and slamming into his side. As he tumbled through the air once more, he used his mana to twist around, landing on his feet.

He prepared to charge in, but a short "Stop!" halted him in his tracks. He dropped his leaden arms.

"Are we finally done now?" He asked, as he stopped controlling his breath and panted heavily.

"Oh, is that your limit pipsqueak?" The middle school girl in front of him asked leaning on the heavy, golden two-handed hammer of her own make.

"Yes, Sanae-chan. You know using Ganjouna at this level tires me quickly."

"Oi pipsqueak, remember, I'm Dekomori-sensei while we're training. I still don't know how you succeeded to defeat eight captains with that level of speed and strength. You're like a little puppy barking at a werewolf."

"I explained this already!" He exclaimed "During that fight I used Shirobuchi."

"That you were able to defeat them with such trash speaks volumes about the quality of the weapons those guys used."

"Isn't it possible the weapon isn't as bad as you think it is? I don't believe their weapons are that bad, since your pupils forged some of them."

"The Ito brothers are quite skilled, yes."

"I still don't get what's so bad about it. Charged with my mana it was like holding a lightning bolt in my hands."

"Charged? What do you mean charged? Like when you channel through it?"

"No, like how I use Ganjouna, or well, Ganjouna uses me. I pushed mana into the blade, made it an extension of myself just like this sword is."

"You mana-carved a blade made by an Angel?"

"Mana-carved?"

"Do you even pay attention when I'm training you?"

"So far you're training has me staring at what you do and trying to copy it, which I can't, and that earns me a whack of that smith's hammer you so casually carry everywhere." He said, slightly disgruntled.

"Right." The tiny girl responded. "Could you pass Shirobuchi to me again."

He summoned the boken, tossing it over. Dekomori caught it effortlessly but her eyes widened slightly as she inspected the blade.

"This is quite remarkable. This blade is now less trashy then it used to be." She glanced at him. "Alright, let's explain what you did. I've told you about the differences between Demon, Human and Angel weapons, yes?"

"Yeah." He nodded, "Basically, Angels use their mana to create weapons, and the strength of the weapon is heavily tied to the angel's strength. Demons forge their weapons, like humans do, but their skill, materials and so on are better than we have access to. We, however, overcame both their weapons by fusing the process, adding mana of the wielder to the weapon as it is being forged."

"Very concise, and your idea of it is correct, in approximation. We have not overcome Demons and Angels their weapons, we've merely found a way to defend ourselves. Brigade-general and up class angels have had stronger weapons than most of us, exceptions would be Rikka's axe, my Mjolnir," she caressed the golden handle in her hands. "and even your Ganjouna, if you succeed in mastering it. Demons are even more a danger, as even low-ranked ones can have incredibly well forged weapons if they have the favour of their bosses."

"Seems like I don't have to worry about it then, if my blacksmith specialist claims Ganjouna is more than good enough." He grinned.

She was not amused. "First of all, not yours, and I doubt Nibutani-san would appreciate you saying that. Next, don't ever let your guard down. At this point, all your teachers, including Makoto, can still shatter that thing you swing around like a log."

"Yeah yeah, noted. Now what was that about mana-carving?"

"Right." She tossed Shirobuchi back to him. "When we humans fuse the mana of the wielder with the weapon, it's not simply encasing raw mana within the metal. We create channels for the mana to flow through, specific for that person, meaning the weapon is attuned and an extension of that person's mana core. It'll be less like channelling mana through a weapon and more like channelling mana through your own body, understand?"

He nods, "So what does that have to do with Shirobuchi?"

"Well, angelic weapons contain these channels too, are created through these channels, the weapon itself is basically just skin. The only reason you were able to channel so easily through Shirobuchi at the beginning is because you have an affinity for Lightning. Now however, you completely reconstructed the innards of Shirobuchi, attuning it to yourself perfectly."

"So?"

"I don't know, this is impossible with human weapons, but the structure of Angelic weapon might make it possible." She pondered out loud. "The thing is, we very rarely use Angelic weapons, or I should say, we hardly ever recover them. They are very brittle at best and useless if your affinity is not correct."

"So, this thing you're so surprised about could be nothing?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes." She replied honestly.

"Damn it, why did we waste so much time on that then?" He ripped his blade from the ground, preparing to intercept his training partner, because, as the words left his mouth, he saw the golden hammer shred through the air, spinning around together with the blond twin tails the girl sported.

The hammer ground to a halt as he caught it with his blade and let it slide down to the cross guard. Dekomori showed her evil grin as she started pushing down on his blade. "I thought you needed a break?" She asked in an innocent voice.

"I didn't say I wanted to continue the training!" Yuuta grunted heavily under the pressure. Shifting his grip on the hilt and sidestepped letting the hammer crash into the ground, casting up a dust cloud. He ducked quickly and felt the wind shear over his back as the girl used her momentum to roundhouse kick in his direction.

He leaped back, leaving the cloud behind. He brandished his weapon, searching for the next attack, but as the dust cloud settled he noticed the girl hadn't moved anymore. A puzzled look appeared on his face. "Was that it again?"

"What is it you want to ask? You've had a question in your eyes since we started today, and you're not a fun opponent when you're unfocused. Not that you're much better when you are but still."

"Why are you training me today? Normally I'd have training with Shinka, or in the rare case she can't, Rika takes over."

"Seriously? As you should already know, they're both wrapped in some business of their respective groups. It's not something that concerns you so you should just leave it be." Her eyes told him he should not dig deeper, or maybe that she was annoyed because she was pulled away from her forge again. She's to blame for it though, Rikka rarely leaves room to wiggle around once she has someone in her grasp.

In private conversations he accidentally overheard he had heard Dekomori refer to Rikka as her master, although he had no clue what Rikka could be teaching Sanae.

Consumed by his own thoughts, only his abnormal reflexes saved him from breaking something. He jumped backward, releasing Ganjouna to gain enough speed, and slammed his back into the ground when he landed badly. Again a dust cloud shot up, with shrapnel rain of rocks attached to it. He scrambled upright, taking his open hand fighting pose as taught by Isshiki.

But again, the girl didn't shoot out of the dust cloud to attack him. He might have lost Ganjouna but they both knew that he could still fight, especially now he had access to all the mana Ganjouna had been sucking out of him, his speed had increased immensely.

Thinking he could take advantage from this speed advantage he shot back into the dust cloud, weaving a thin veil of mana widely around him to use as a radar. He found her quite quickly, and pulled the sensory tendrils back immediately to not alert her of his presence. He sprinted around her, and charged when he was at her back.

Naturally, she sensed him approaching at that point, he pre-emptively ducked underneath the swing of her hammer. He grinned, he was sure he had her now. He collected his mana into one of his hand and aimed a palm strike at her exposed ribcage.

He struck air however, the discharge of mana in he had accumulated dispersed the dust cloud in flash of bright light. He was off balance, and a sense of dread filled him, only a moment before he got slammed into the ground. His body crashed, digging a hole. He lapsed out of consciousness.

* * *

He opened his eyes and rolled over, crawling out of the crater his body had created. With a heavy sigh, he looked around only noticing his instructor gone. He wasn't really surprised by the fact that she had disappeared, after all, he had been useless this time around and she had been annoyed since the start.

He shifted back to the real world, and reacted in surprise when he notice an unknown young man sitting on the ground. He stood quite tall, standing just short of six feet. His black hair was grown out quit long, and tied into a braid. When Yuuta showed up, he scrambled upright as quickly as he could.

"Togashi-sama?" he asked.

"Yes?" Yuuta answered as he noticed the man carried some folders.

"Nashima-sama send me!" he exclaimed as he extended the folders to him.

"You one of my section?" Yuuta questioned as he flipped upon the upper most folder, a black one, which contained the legend for the folder usage he had requested and an overview of the contents of the filing cabinets.

"I'm one of the scribes Nakishma-san plucked up to help do the sorting." The man answered nervously, and Yuuta noticed he was younger then he had first thought. Maybe a year older then him, if that.

"You've done great work then. You must have pulled an all-nighter to get this done today already." Yuuta whistled through his teeth, pondering over what things he'd have to look over first when he got back to the office. The blue folder he glanced at and discarded, he'd discuss this with Aika.

"Nashima-sama insisted we got it done today." He responded, his voice quieter still.

"Boy," Yuuta clapped the black folder shut, making the man jump, "relax. I don't know what rumours you've heard of me, but I'm not that bad, I promise. Now, what's your name, so I can address you properly?"

"Yamishita Kazuma."

"Well, Yamishita-san, I appreciate the work you've done for me. Please take these back to headquarters and tell Nashima-san she can start preparing the patrol routes as she did before, and that I'll discuss them with her when I arrive." He gave the black and blue folder back and the boy bowed and left with a quick trot.

With a sigh, Yuuta wondered if he'd ever get used to people jumping when he talked. He gathered his things, and left toward the Peak Lounge.

* * *

She was twiddling her thumbs next to her father in the Council's great hall. Murmuring came from all the stands, between those supposedly allied, those secretly allied, and even some between open enemies, who had much sooner kill each other than agree, her father kept aside though, and she followed suit. She still wondered why she had been told to attend the whole meeting, instead of just having to file her report like normally. She was supposed to be spending her evening with Yuuta.

A slight tap against her leg pulled her out of her reverie. "You'll know soon enough why you have to be here." Her father said, obviously lost in his own mind himself. As if he could see the future, the door to the hall opened, and the council members all moved back to their own seats.

The man who entered was someone slightly familiar to her. Kennou Kai was his name, and he functioned as an intermediary between the Organisation and the Temple Council. He was rather short, being only five feet two, but his heavy muscles made him appear more intimidating. As most men in the room, he was wearing a suit, in his case a dark blue one, with a grey striped tie.

She had dealings with him when the Wicked Eye was placed under her care. His low voice reverberated through the room, as he announced, "Dearest members of the Council, I'd like to announce Takanashi Touka, High Priestess of the Organisation and Takanashi Rikka, Wielder of the Wicked Eye."

With those words, a tall, black haired woman entered the hall. Even Nibutani thought she was beautiful, and she was not surprised anymore about the rumours that this woman casted spells on nearly every man she met. A pang of jealousy arose in her as she saw the fully developed body covered by extremely casual clothes, the jeans seemed to have been cast around those hips, and the black shirt was wrapped tightly around her breasts. The outfit was completed by what seemed to be a belt choker around her neck. Trailing behind her was Rikka, who at least seemed to have tried to dress up, wearing a long black dress, but the illusion was ruined by the black combat boots beneath it.

The other woman, Touka, halted in the middle of the room, and confidence and power exuded from those eyes as they swept across the room, never resting anywhere until they came to her. She simply looked back, not giving into the pressure the woman exerted on her. A smirk crossed the black haired woman's face for less than a moment, so short she thought she had imagined it, but the eyes moved on.

"We acknowledge Takanashi Touka, High Priestess. Why have you come before us today?" One of the temple leaders said, though she couldn't pinpoint which one.

Touka's voice, although rather soft, filled the room. "I have come here to talk to this full charade of a council for a single reason." Grumbling echoed through the room, but none raised their voice. "I have felt the awakening of the Dark Flame Master." And the room exploded. Everyone started shouting, or discussing with others the implications of this. Her own mind was running rampant. She had never been faced with the Dark Flame Master, but she had heard stories.

The Elder from Isshiki's clan slammed in his into the table, raising himself up, "I thought you defeated that monster years ago." He pierced the shouts of all the others who had started raising this same concern. The room silenced once more.

"I did. And I will fight him again as soon as I'm ready. But as you all know, we Ability Users can't be beaten so easily, and this is even more true for the powerful ones. I succeeded in wounding the Dark Flame Master in that fight a decade and a half ago, and he disappeared, which is more than any of you could do."

An angry silence remained in the room, but everyone settled back into their seats. Her father, raising his voice slightly, asked, "What proof do you have of this, if none of us have felt it? And what do you expect from us?" She wanted to scream at him. How could he stay so calm and collected?

"Ah, Nibutani Takahiro and his daughter. I'd like to thank her for watching out for my little sister. I've stood closer to him than anyone else still alive, so I'm more attuned to his mana signature. It might have slipped through your detection networks because even I can't locate him. His powers only spikes up for a moment, not more. I expect nothing from you except your cooperation in locating him and you staying out of the way of the battle. You will meet nothing more than death if you come close." At that sentence her father gritted his teeth. She knew he hated it when he was powerless.

"That was all I came here to say." She turned on her heels and left, Rikka dashing after her, and Kennou following more slowly, closing the doors behind him.

* * *

"Sister, if the Dark Flame Master hid from you way back when, don't you know exactly what he looks like?" Rikka asked, as they marched toward the exit of the building.

"Who says I don't? I don't need this Council for anything. I know exactly where he is and who he is. His awakening isn't complete yet, so I only just noticed it, and I still need some time to prepare."

"Who is he? Why not kill him now while he's still weak? And if you don't need the help of the Council, why have you told them?"

"I won't tell you that, and you know why. Yes, why wouldn't we?" Her sister glanced over her shoulder.

Rikka narrowed her eyes. "Fine. My guess is that even though is awakening isn't complete, he's still rather strong, or you want to use his presence to manipulate the Council."

"Well well well… look who's growing up." They walked out of the building, and started their walk back home.

"How are you planning to use this?" Rikka asked.

"Simple, a seed has been planted. They all think one of them has been hiding him, or even using him. This will break that farce completely, paving the path for the Organisation to reconquer Japan."

"Is that true? Has one of the Temples been hiding him?"

"One might have been. I still haven't figured out how he has been staying under the radar, but he is a far better Ability User than any of us, so I wouldn't be surprised if he found a new way of cloaking himself from everyone's eyes."

"Is me being put under the care of Nibutani Shinka part of this plan of the Organisation?"

"Likely, after all, it gives a false sense of security if we send one of our stronger people to them. It also gives us a great in, or at least a surprise attack."

"You expect me to attack people I've been befriending?" Rikka asked, surprise tinging her voice.

"Do you really think they see you as a friend?" Her sister requited.

Rikka stopped in her tracks, flashes of happy lunches, talks, and even the training days. The boy she felt oddly attracted to, his best friend, Dekomori, and even that girl she saw as her rival. She considered them friends, but then again, she never had friends before, so she didn't know if they saw her that way too. Her memories of her past lives were of no help here either.

"Believe me, little sis, we're on our own in this world. Even within the Organisation, you and I are despised at best." The solemn voice of her older sister filled her mind. "If anything, the closest thing I've had to a friend is our worst enemy. The Dark Flame Master seems to understand how it feels for those standing so alone at the top."

Rikka did not know how to respond to the sadness she found in her sisters eyes, so she nodded and asked something simple, "Say sis, could you make me some dinner?"

Touka looked taken aback for a second, but responded with a soft smile, "Of course."

* * *

"Good luck, Yuuta." were the last words said before leaving Yuuta at the door of the Ninth Section.

Yuuta breathed in deeply, ironing down his nerves, and opened the door. He entered and seven heads turned to him, most of which he recognised. Of the eight Captains directly under him, he recognised 5 in this room, namely the Ito brothers in the back, Ueno Hana with her red eyes, the timid Saito Arai and the aristocrat who recently healed a broken jaw, Shoichi Akehiko.

Only two faces were unfamiliar to him, although he had seen pictures of them. The first man stood about as tall as him, and had long grey hair tied together in a tail that hung over his shoulder until the end of his middle. His face was showing wrinkles and that was no surprise as the man looked like he was in his early seventies. Yuuta recognised him as Manata Tairo.

The other man was called Nairo Nobuna was a man at the end of his forties, wearing thin grey spectacles over his dark blue eyes, and is a short bit taller than he was. The man has the weird habit of shaving his head, but leaving his dark brown beard, which has grown out to his midriff. In his file were several documents containing results of his tries to gain the Captain-Commandant position.

The burly Ito brothers came up to him with a big smile. "Hello hello, our new Captain-Commandant has arrived!" Nokashim exclaimed, clapping him on the shoulder.

"It's nice to see you again as well, Ito-san and… Ito-san. Have you succeeded in repairing the damage I did to your weapons?" Yuuta responded, feeling relieved that at least these two didn't spite him.

"Just use our given names, Togashi-sama, it's hard enough to keep us separated even then." Nakashim laughed. "And Nokashim's flail was easily fixed, you only broke the chain after all. That mess you made of Shoichi-san's rapier though. We're still discussing whether we're even going to try to repair it, instead of just giving him a new one."

A loud harrumph came from Shoichi. "I concede that you are stronger than me, Togashi-sama," he struggled with the honorific, "but don't misstep or I'll cut you down."

"Ah, you can just ignore him, he's just being sulky that he has no chance anymore of marrying into the Nibutani family. Apparently Nibutani-sama cut that thought out of him with quite some force." Nokashim confided to Yuuta. Shoichi harrumphed once more, turning himself back to his work.

The brothers pulled him along to Ueno Hana and Saito Arai's desk. Hana rose, and extended her hand, "I look forward to working with you, Togashi-san." Her red eyes studied him intensely for a second, before she let go of his hand.

"As do I, Ueno-san. Saito-san, you don't need to bow for me. In fact, I'd rather not have anyone bow for me." He shifted focus to Arai.

The woman stood upright again, "Good evening, Togashi-sama. My name is… You already know my name, right… uhm…" she fumbled for words.

"I look forward to working with you, Saito-san. That blast you used against me during our fight could have inflicted some serious damage if you had caught me of guard."

"Thank you sir."

Yuuta made a sour face, but accepted the inevitable. He had been called sir a number of times already, and numerous more times would come. He straightened his face and, with a nod, left them to their work.

It was at this point he had to address the two men he hadn't seen yet. He walked over to their desk, flanked by the Ito brothers. The older of the two flashed a smile and extended his hand over the desk as soon as Yuuta reached them.

"My name is Manata Tairo, although I'm sure you already knew that. I hope you can forgive me for not getting up, these old bones need all the rest they can get." The man said as Yuuta clasped his hand.

"I don't mind at all, Manata-san. I've heard quite a lot about you."

"You can ignore most of those things, Togashi-sama. If you ever become as old as me, you'll notice that you don't remember doing half the things that people say you did," Tairo laughed. "Besides, you've done more impressive things than me already, or at least so I've heard."

"Still, at your age, you must have experienced quite a lot. I'd like to hear some stories from you some time." Yuuta said, taking an instant liking to the old man. "And I don't know what you've heard, but it'll probably be exaggerated too."

"I find that hard to believe. After all, a Captain-Commandant of such a young age has only happened once before." Manata-san responded.

Before Yuuta could refute him, the bald man on the opposite side of the desk made a grumbling noise, as if he was saying something under his breath. Yuuta turned at the noise and locked eyes with the man. He extended his hand, but that hand was slapped away.

"Nobuna-san, you won't gain anything from acting like that." Manata tried to reconcile.

"I won't listen to this brat." Nairo got up from his chair, making use of his full length to look down at Yuuta for a second. He then turned to Tairo, "And I told you to stop using my given name, old man."

Yuuta felt anger flowing through him, but he could hardly start lashing out immediately. "Nairo-san, we have gotten off on the wrong foot, and I'd like to correct that."

"Brat, don't speak so haughty to me. I'll have you disposed within a month if not earlier." Nairo said, the distaste in his voice very audible.

"And I'm guessing you will replace me?" Yuuta asked, touching the sore spot.

"I will. Eventually I'll take the Nibutanis spot as the head of this temple." The man stated, anger tinging the words.

"Listen, Nairo-san," Yuuta layed emphasis on the name, "if you don't get control of those emotions of yours, Nibutani-sama will never even let you get my rank, let alone climbing high enough to take his place."

The man gritted his teeth, bumped past Yuuta and left the office, slamming the door behind him.

Yuuta sighed, "I should've handled that better. I need to patch this a soon as I can." He said, scratching his head.

The two Ito brothers clapped his back, making him stumble forward against the desk. He turned around, only to see the two burly man laughing loudly.

"Togashi-sama, you did a lot better than some of us. The only one he didn't immediately challenged to a duel were Hana-san and Aika-san." Nakashim said.

"And while he didn't exactly overwhelmingly beat anyone, he likes to rub it in when he won." Nokashim said. "He still greets me by with loser instead of my name. That might just be because Nakashim broke his nose though." He started laughing again.

"I'll talk him down, Togashi-sama." Manata-san mixed himself back into the conversation. "He's not that awful when he finally cools down. Although he'll always stay a bit of a prick." He finished with a smile.

"Thank you, Manata-san." Yuuta said. "Nokashim-san, Nakashim-san, you guy can go back to work now. Since I don't think Shoichi-san wants me to re-introduce myself to him."

"Not necessary." Shocihi said, not even looking up from his work.

"See?"

"Of course, Togashi-sama." They said simultaneously.

"Could you just tell me where Aika-san is?" Yuuta asked.

"Oh, she's in your office. Something about not having enough room on her shared desk." Ueno Hana said from the other side of the room. She had very sharp ears it seemed, he'd have to remember that.

"Hardly a surprise when you have someone with such a big ego to share your desk with." Nakashim added, a hand cupping his mouth as if he didn't want Shoichi to hear.

"I still heard that, Nakashim-san." Shoichi said, but there was a trace of humour in his voice. These were people he had been working with for a long time, and had built a bond with. It made Yuuta hold hope that at least Shoichi would turn around.

All in all, it had gone better than he expected, only two of the eight seemed to dislike him. And one of them seemed more disgruntled with Shinka than with him. He moved over to the door of his office and almost walked in, before a cough made him turn back.

Shoichi was leaning over the desk, extending his hand, barely reaching the other side. Yuuta raised an eyebrow at the sight.

"Just take it before I change my mind." The man said, looking disgruntled.

Yuuta smiled, "It'll be a pleasure to have you working for me."

"For now, Togashi-sama." He still tripped over the honorific. "For now." A hint of a smile played on the man's lips, but it might just be a hidden grimace. Yuuta didn't care. He let go of the hand, and Shoichi quickly retook his place behind his desk.

The rest had started working as well, the Ito brothers discussing the reparation of Shoichi's rapier, and something about restocking low-class training weapons. Shoichi was again quietly reading reports and scribbling notes on a separate paper. Hana and Arai were talking about something, but he couldn't hear what. For all he knew it was about shoes… or how girl pockets are the worst.

Manata-san was looking at him, and smiled when he saw that Yuuta noticed him. Yuuta gave a nod, and turned to actually enter his office.

* * *

"Ah, Togashi-sama, welcome." Aika greeted him. She wore a simple dark blue haori jacket covering a cream blouse and a matching dark blue skirt. There was another person in the room who Yuuta recognised as Yamishita Kazuma.

Yuuta discarded his jacket over his chair and bend over the desk without sitting down, running his eyes over the chaos on it. "So, how goes the planning of the patrol routes, Nashima-san?" He asked her.

"Yamishita-san, where did you put those two maps?" Nashima directed at the clerk, as she moved to the opposite side of the desk.

While the man fumbled through the papers on the desk, Yuuta asked, "Aika-san, why is it that we use paper for everything instead of computers? Are temples just scared to go along with the time?"

"It's somewhat odd, is it not? It somewhat stems from tradition, but the biggest reason we forego the more technological route for most of our documents is that paper cannot be hacked. Information on paper is often safer than when it's on a server." Aika explained.

"Do we really have such sensitive information?" Yuuta showed some surprise.

"It's not that the information is worth anything to outsiders, but when two temples wage war, this information might tip the scales. Besides, could you imagine if an outsider hacked our systems and we Ability-Users were exposed to the world?"

"That could very quickly turn the world into chaos." Yuuta nodded solemnly.

In the meantime, Yamishita had quickly produced two maps. He had moved some of the clutter of the desk, and laid the maps on the table. One of them showed the three districts of Tokyo their temple controlled, divided in even more sections, and marked with several numbers. The other was of one of those sections magnified, on which a bunch of scribbles were added. Yuuta took that as Aika's notes.

Yuuta scanned the maps, reading the notes carefully. Nashima had experience in this area, quite a lot in fact, and had planned the patrol routes as she thought were best. That is if you're only planning to patrol.

"This all seems logically put together Nashima-san, but-"

"But?" She interrupted him, raising an eyebrow.

"Well," he pointed to the larger map, specifically to a section closed off completely by theirs and another section, "this section here is prime for us to start some manoeuvring." He moved his finger to the third section he had highlighted. "If I'm not wrong this area is covered by Walter's section, yes?"

She nodded.

"Listen to me for a bit. This Section closed of here by ours and Walter's is another one of our Division. I want to increase the size of the patrols from three people to five people and instead of killing everything that we find, I want our soldiers, and Walters if possible, to kite all the Angels and Demons they find into the Second's area. I do want to keep everyone of at least Lieutenant class reserve, to either help kite the heavier enemies, or for the other part of the plan I'll come to soon."

He cleared his throat before continuing. "Anyway, that'll strain his subordinates, he'll have to increase patrol size and patrols just like us but since their dealing with the enemies of three sections they'll tire easier. Eventually they will cave under the pressure, and have two main options, as I see it."

"Which are?" she seemed intrigued.

"He'll either report in to the higher-ups he can't handle it, or he'll seek help. Option one will discredit him and give him a weaker political position. Option two, he could, again, handle in two ways. He could seek help from his allies, whose people would have to travel through our territory, so we can report them in, accomplishing the same as option one, on a bigger scale, as it will drag his allies down too. After all, who allies himself with weaklings. The other choice he has is asking help of either me or Walter. Of course we wouldn't report each other, and that way we could use to rope him into allying himself with us, creating a stronger group for our next move." Yuuta explained.

"Wouldn't that make it a very fragile alliance? And wouldn't the lower level soldiers spread the word?" Aika asked.

"Well, he doesn't know we were kiting the otherworldly creatures, and he will never know, since this won't leave the room." He looked at both of them.

Aika nodded immediately, and Yamishita stammered a "Yes sir."

"As for our soldiers, they don't have to know it either, we will simply issue a warning, saying that the strength of our enemies is too large to destroy them, therefore we are kiting them back to their own territory…"

"Which is not something they'll want to spread since it makes them look weak. That could work."

"Alright, Yamishita, go get me the personnel file of the leader of the… second Section please. I need to know if this'll work on him. Aika, tell me whether or not you think this plan will work."

Yamishita shot through the room toward the filing cabinets in a hurry, and quickly found the file he asked for.

"Well, it seems pretty solid. The thing is you yourself don't have that high of an esteem within the Captain-Commandants, which means he'll probably underestimate you, which might make him choose to contact some of his friends and pull them through your territory. And while it'll pull his credit down, so will it do yours, and people will be even more suspicious of you then they are now."

"Well, that might be true, but someone has prepared this little place for me to try something in. If I view this map, I don't see anywhere else where Sections of the same Division are this close together."

"You think Leader Nibutani-sama set this up for you?"

"He might have. Either way I'm taking this chance."

"Togashi-sama, here's Nara Yuuji's file." Yamishita handed Yuuta a file.

"Aika, see if you could set up a patrol scheme if we push this plan." As he sat down at his desk and started skimming through the file.

Aika called Yamishita to her and they pushed the maps aside to make room for the list of people they had to coordinate. She immediately started dictating names for groups she'd knew would work well together and Yamishita started scribbling these down, as organised as if he had all the time in the world. It was obvious the boy was a skilled scribe, even though he was rather young.

Yuuta snickered. The man was older as him. Age had nothing to do with skill, or capabilities. Look at him, he had the power to command people two or three times his age. He focused on the document before him though.

Nara Yuuji, Captain-Commandant of the second Section. A clean shaven face greeted him on the picture, greyish eyes and blonde hair, neatly trimmed as well. At the ripe age of thirty-seven, he was apparently promoted under advisement of his former commander, now Major Renzo Jin. It seems like he is rather weak in comparison to most other Captain-Commandants according to his physical aptitude test. The last noteworthy thing Yuuta could find, beside a whole lot of blabbering, is that the man was only raised to Captain-Commandant rank half a year ago.

"Say, Aika-san, what can you tell me about this guy? This files really need to be reworked, they're hardly usable right now."

Aika looked up from the papers on the desk. "These files were never meant to be used to plot against other members of the temple, that's why they are not as elaborate as files about enemies... but you wanted to know about Nara-sama, right?" She stood upright, and folded her arms under her breasts.

"I don't know much about him, to be honest. I have heard from other Captains from the Second that he was a brownnoser and that's how he got his promotion. He is not extremely liked by his subordinates, but neither do any of them really dislike him, as far as I know. After his promotion to Captain-Commandant he hasn't done much, save for getting another Captain into his position."

"That's not… entirely true." Yamishita softly stammered from beside her, his face hidden.

Both Aika and Yuuta turned to look at him, and Yamishita looked shocked he said anything in the first place.

"Tell us, Yamishita-kun." Yuuta asked kindly.

"I don't want to insult Nashima-sama, but Nara-sama has been doing some things that he's been trying to keep under the radar." The man said, still rather quiet.

"Continue, and you are allowed to speak up a bit." Yuuta chuckled, "As far as I know these walls do not have ears."

Yamishita visibly steeled himself. "Well, most of these things are rumours and whispers between the clerks, but some of these sources I trust. I have heard several things, first and foremost, of this I'm sure, is that the amount of clerks passing through his office is much larger than that of any other office, and most of these clerks have sealed orders with them, which is rather suspicious."

"Why are sealed orders suspicious? It seems logical to me that most orders are sealed." Yuuta pondered outloud.

"Well, Togashi-san, it's rather rare that an order has to be sealed. Almost all orders contain no dangerous information whatsoever as long as the order stays within the temple, and I doubt anyone outside the temple would care if there is a seal on an envelope or not. Sealed orders are rare, and only the Nibutanis ever really use them."

"So by using these sealed orders Nara is putting himself in the spotlight?"

"Yes. The odd thing is that no one else has seemed to pick up on this. The theory under the scribes is that he just always uses sealed orders, so that nobody would suspect him because he send a sealed order." Yamishita said, his confidence increased by the listening ears of his superiors.

"Another reason why it wasn't noticed, is that people hardly pay any attention to scribes, even an irregular amount of them," He continued.

Both Nashima and Yuuta nodded, as even he had already dismissed them after walking around here for just a bit.

"From some of my friends in the Division archives, who've been carrying orders for him, have said that his brown nosing is an act. It seems like he has an intense dislike for Major Renzo-sama, but acted to get his position."

"It's not new that most brownnoser fake to get promotions, Yamishita-san," Aika dismissed his claim.

"The important part is coming, Nashima-sama. You see, it seems now that Nara-sama has reached the Captain-Commandant spot, he's started changing files of Renzo-sama. He's trying to discredit the Major and usurp the position as his own as the one who revealed the incompetence of his superior."

"That wouldn't accomplish anything. There's a copy of every file in the Central Archives, which only Brigade-Generals and up have access, and the trusted clerks that have been selected by those people. Even if he tried to discredit Renzo-sama with false documents, they'd just be checked against their counterparts and with that he'd have no case." Aika once more dismissed the clerk.

"Aika-san, what about the sealed orders?" Yuuta asked. "What if he's using these sealed orders to pass around bribes to the clerks of the Central Archives?"

"That would still be impossible, Togashi-sama, like I said, the clerks are trusted."

"Money can be a great incentive for a lot of people and I'm guessing clerks, not even the clerks of the Central Archive get paid that much. There's always cracks in these systems, even if you avoid computers." Yuuta added with a grin. "What do you think, Yamishita-san?"

"I think it might be possible. The clerks are usually alone down there, so changing switching something with another document is really easy, I think, at least. I haven't been there though."

"Aika-san?"

"I think… I don't know. Honestly, scribes are something I haven't ever thought about as usable in that way. It's risky, but if there is someone who could pull such bribes of, it's someone from the Nara family. They became quite rich with a hotel business," she said.

"We'll continue under the assumption that we know nothing for now, but if he is doing this, he'll be removed from the equation easily. Yamishita-san, I'd like you to find out were those 'orders' are going, and bring in those clerks you trust. I'll see if I trust them and then I'd like you all to work together… under me."

"Are you going to build up a personal spy network?" Nashima seemed confused.

"A spy network might be reaching a bit too far… for now at least. For we have to test our spy master, don't we, Yamishita-san?"

The man nodded, he somehow seemed to revel in the idea of spying on his comrades. Or maybe it's just that he'll be working closely with his superiors and not being dismissed as just a scribe?

"For now, a small network of eyes and ears might be enough to get this job finished. I do want to talk with all your candidates before you bring them into the network though, Yamishita-san. Bring all messages to Nashima-san though and not me. It'll lower suspicion of me."

"And heighten suspicion of me," Aika interjected.

"I'll fix that soon," Yuuta said with a smile. "Last thing, I'd like to bring in Manata-san to help. What do you think Aika-san?"

"You can ask him, but I doubt he'll want to help."

"Why?"

"He'll explain himself, he's better at that than me."

Yuuta sighed. "Alright then, everyone agrees on the plan?"

Both the woman and the man nodded.

"Okay, I'm going to verbally kick you out of this office, Yamishita-san. This'll reduce suspicion of us having contact for a while." The man nodded again. "Nashima-san, I'd like you to get Walter so we can push this plan on him."

Yuuta stood up from his chair, stretching out and moved over to the door. He gestured at Yamishita-san, who joined him with Nashima trailing behind. Yuuta opened the door, raised his voice, and practically yelled, "What gives you the right to fondle your superior's behind?!"

Yamishita took his cue and sprinted out the office, turning some heads. His braid was the last thing visible as he dashed around the corner. Nashima followed him, looking quite subdued. A small blush coloured her cheeks.

"Was this your plan to make me more inconspicuous?" Nashima asked quietly.

"They'll think he's trying to court you" Yuuta whispered, keeping the stern expression he had summoned on his face.

Nashima stalked of after those words, seemingly angry. "Maybe actually angry," Yuuta thought, a smile creeping up on his face, which he supressed as quickly as he felt it coming. He composed himself, and turned toward Manata-san, who had been joined by Nobuna once more, the latter's eyes filled with spite.

"Manata-san, could I talk to you for a minute?" Yuuta called out to him.

"Story time already, Togashi-sama?" the old man asked with a smile, as he got up from his desk.

* * *

Manata shuffled into the office, while Yuuta was clearing the new patrol schedules from the desk. Those had to be kept a secret from him for at least a bit longer. He pushed them into a desk drawer and took his seat.

Manata glanced around, and then pulled a chair from a corner of the office. The bland thing was so inconspicuous that Yuuta hadn't even noticed it when he first visited the office yesterday.

"I hope you don't mind, Togashi-sama? Even I am feeling to start my age." The man smiled.

Yuuta responded in kind, gesturing to the chair, "I should have thought of that, to be honest. My apologies, Manata-san."

Manata sat down, "Thank you. What is it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Well, I'm looking for some help with a certain endeavour," Yuuta circuitously started, "I have certain plans I want to set in motion, and I could use your help."

"You are quite vague, so I suspect it has a certain amount of secrecy bound to it?" Manata asked.

Yuuta simply nodded, folding his hands on his desk.

"I can't really say if it's something I want to do, unless you tell me something." Manata apologetically responded. "Is this endeavour one aimed at personal glory, or one to aid the temple?"

"It might help the temple in the long run." Yuuta said.

"So personal glory then?"

Yuuta doesn't answer. He doesn't see it as trying to gain personal glory, he wants to prove himself, prove himself capable of standing next to Shinka at the top. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knows he might turn out to be a great leader. He surprises himself with his ideas and plans at times, but since they come from no one but him, he trusts them.

"I'm sorry, Togashi-sama, but I'm sworn to this temple, not my singular commander. I cannot help you if what you're planning to do is a hindrance to it. My loyalty lies with this organisation, and I don't think you'll get me to change my mind." Manata explained.

When Yuuta remained silent, trying to figure out how he could change the kind old man's choice, Manata started raising himself.

"Wait, Manata-san. I know you said you wouldn't change your mind," Yuuta got up, and walked round the desk, "but would you place the loyalty to a friend above the loyalty to an organisation?" Yuuta extended his hand.

"I'm sorry, Togashi-sama, but even at my age, or maybe especially at my age, you don't make friends lightly, maybe a couple months down the line you'll be able to invoke this… how would the youngsters say it… this friend card to change my mind." Manata was adamant.

Yuuta wanted to drop his hand, but Manata clasped it. "I look forward to hear about these exaggerations of yours."

Yuuta showed a small smile, "I look forward to your stories as well, Manata-san. Could I also ask you to keep the contents of this conversation secret?"

"Hardly difficult, as I know nothing." Manata smiled.

Manata shuffled from the office, and Yuuta sighed deeply. He moved the chair back to its corner and retook his place at his desk. He dug up the papers Yamishita and Aika had been working on, to see if he could make sense of them.

* * *

Yamishita walked into the Division's Archives, and immediately spotted one of his friend approaching him.

"Kazuma! Where've you been, I didn't see you at all today?" The blonde twin tails gave the woman a more girly appearance, but it was not easy to hide your age, even if you're really short. She was at least three heads shorter than him but he wasn't going to say that to her. Broken bones had happened to others who did.

"Yo Maiko! Nashima-sama stole me for a while for a job."

"Oh yeah, I heard there's a new CC for the Ninth."

"Shortening the ranks really doesn't make you sound hip."

"Oh but I'm still hip, I'm only in my twenties." She said, taking what she thought was a cute pose to accentuate her statement.

"Late twint-" his statement cut short by a foot slamming down on his foot. He kept his mouth shut as she glared up at him.

"Anyway," She kept an eye on him, "how is our new Captain-Commandant?"

"He's… odd. He's quite young, but when you hear him speak it almost sounds like he's battle weary."

"He sounds interesting," her voice sparkling, "You think I'll get a chance to work with him?"

_A first fish? No, I have to think about this clearly,_ Yamishita's thoughts raced. _Is she trustworthy? I consider her a friend but is she trustable with the secrets Togashi-sama wants us to keep? She's not one to gossip excessively unlike what her persona would suggest, she's more of a listener. Do I send her or not? I'm not sending her just yet, maybe a test rumour to see if it spreads? But what?_

"Kazuma? Are you okay, you look a bit… constipated." Maiko looked concerned.

"I'm okay… sorry, I wandered of there for a bit." Yamishata apologized.

"Hmm… okay. Anyway do you think you might be able to suggest me to him?"

_Wait, that's it, there were no other scribes in the office when he was thrown out, and since the captains hardly talk to scribes, most even refuse to learn the names, this is something that won't start spreading any other way._

"I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to do it any time soon, he kinda kicked me out of his office." He said with a sheepish grin.

"What did you do then?" She asked.

"I'd rather you not spread this, but I…" Did he have to use the reason Togashi-sama did?

"I what?" Maiko pressed.

He resigned, "I accidentally fondled Nashima-sama's behind and it was blown out of proportion."

"Accidentally?" Maiko teased.

"Yes, accidentally, you know I'm not that sort of person." Yamishita felt a blush creeping.

"Sure accidentally," Maiko smiled teasingly, "you know, if you wanted to touch a girl's butt, you could've just asked," she said before skipping away like a school girl.

Yamishita shook his head. What had he gotten himself into now?

* * *

"So Walter, what do you think?" Yuuta asked of the older man.

"I'm going to have to leave here as soon as possible. I need to change the patrol schedules fast if I want to participate in this," Walter said. "Don't spread it to the Captains, right?"

"Yes, that is part of the plan. I'm guessing you think it's good then?"

"It is. It might turn out to be very good. Nara is rather weak to start with, this'll topple him quickly," Walter responded. "You don't happen to have a trustworthy scribe lying around that I could use, do you?"

"I don't, and I can't lend you Aika, I need her to help me plan my side."

"You have one, don't you? A scribe you tangled in this web?" Walter eyes narrowed.

"I might, but he's not available right now, whether he actually is mine or not."

"You're pushing a lot of work on me on this Monday evening."

"I'll be here most of the night too, and I have school tomorrow."

"Yeah, but you're hardly going to be doing anything."

"I doubt Aika would be happy with that."

"I would not, your incessant talking has made it more difficult already." Aika interjected from the corner of the desk she had claimed to write on.

"Fine, fine, I'm off. I'll send you a note if I get it done by tomorrow morning when the new schedules need to be up." And he left the office. The group office adjacent to this one was almost empty too. Only Shoichi was still working on some report, that'll probably be on Yuuta's desk tomorrow.

He sighed, besides planning the patrols, he had a pile of overdue paperwork that still needed to be done as well. At least for that he'll be able to call in a scribe. He almost couldn't wait until Yamishita send some good candidates to use.

"Togashi-sama, come help, will you? Instead of daydreaming like a love-struck teenager." Aika said.

"I am a love-struck teenager though, I only got roped into this by Nibutani Shinka, you know."

"That's a fair point, nonetheless, help, will, you?" She stressed the last three words.

"Yes. Just give me a second, I need to inform my mom the group project ran late and I'll be sleeping over with my classmate."

"And there's the teenager part," her voice cracking a bit through the withheld laughter.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh at your younger superior," he joked along.

* * *

"Did he take the bait?" The voice was soft, almost feminine, even though it came from a man.

"Yes." was the answer.

"So you are part of his inner circle now?"

"No, not yet. He gave me a… task though."

"Why not? If he took the bait it'd be easy to get into his circle."

"If something went wrong, he'd immediately suspect me though. With those longer term plan, I'll be able to get his trust completely."

"We'll see. I hope you do not fail me, you know what happens then, right?"

"Of course."

"Leave then, make sure no one sees you leave the group office. If someone does, make them disappear."

He left, walking through the empty group office. As he left that room, and entered the corridor he almost bumped into a scribe with long blonde hair.

"I'm sorry, I should watch out were I walk," the girl apologized.

"It's of no consequence." After all, she was just a lowly scribe. He continued walking, and left the area of the second division without being seen by anyone else.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Hi, I am back, and hard at work at the next chapter too! I'm striving too update this fic monthly from now on, though I might be overworking myself a bit if school starts giving out tasks left and right again. Part of the next chapter is already written, mainly because I planned it to be part of this chapter as well, but I think that might be too much of a push at once, so I cut the chapter off where it felt right. This is quite a long chapter, and it throws a lot at you, so let me know what you think in a review. I'm off again though to start working on the next chapter, so, as always

Thanks for reading


	12. Glossary I

**Author's Note  
**

Hi, me again. A couple of my readers have asked for a glossary, so here it is. It is understandable, seeing as I don't update that much, and it must be hard to remember everything since it's so far from cannon. If there's anything you don't understand in the current fic, anything you'd like to be added to this guide, or want a more thorough explanation about, don't hesitate to ask. If it's still within these first 10 (11) chapters I'll add it to this Glossary. I'll renew the glossary every 10 chapters too.

* * *

**Glossary I**

**Characters**

Togashi Yuuta: 

Yuuta was always a normal kid. He however always believed he was more. He had the so called "Chuunibyou-syndrome", and pretended to be a lone anti-hero who fought against creatures from another world. After never having normal social interactions with his classmates throughout middle school, only really connecting with Sophia, a girl who also suffered from Chuunibyou, he decided to leave those ways behind when starting high school.

His dreams of a normal life were crushed however after being pulled into the Otherworld by Rikka. He awakened as an Ability User. While his mana manifestation was black at that point, the phenomenon hasn't repeated itself, so no one really believes him.

After awakening he was approached differently by Nibutani, and recently started dating her. She is also the one who got him to train himself in the usage of his powers. Although he is suspected to be immensely strong, that power was only shown shortly around his awakening.

No one is aware that Yuuta hears a voice every once in a while, one that helps him come to terms with certain bizarre differences between him and normal Ability Users. It's also because of this voice he decides to keep these differences secret as much as he can.

Through training he with his weapon Ganjouna he's strength increase incredibly fast, earning him a Captain-Commandant rank in Shinka's temple. He leads the ninth section of the twelfth division, and earned the respect of his subordinates quickly through the help of Aika.

Nibutani Shinka:

Daughter of the leader of a Temple, Nibutani was always deeply involved in the political aspect of the fight against the Otherworld. Even more so when she surpassed her father and became the warleader (shogun) of her Temple.

She was tasked with watching over Rikka while she is in high school, a demand from the Temple Council the Organisation filled, most likely for some political advantage at some point. While watching over Rikka, she sensed Yuuta's awakening and decided to rope him into her order. And then she fell in love with him.

She is Yuuta's main training partner and was still surprised at his power when he used it during her father's test, implying that Yuuta's strength was growing at a terrifying rate, she has claimed to be scared of him occasionally, when he lashes out with his power. At this point however, she can still beat him if she tries.

Takanashi Rikka:

Rikka is the current Wielder of the Wicked Eye, a stigma she 'contracted' at a young age. Nevertheless she is one of the strongest Ability Users out there. She was trained from a young age by the Organisation. She also possesses the memories of the previous Wielders of the Wicked Eye, which gives her vast knowledge on the Otherworld, and its inhabitants.

The Eye influences her mental stability, and she is prone to lashing out in anger, often doing things bordering on the mad. For this reason she was hidden away and kept from normal society as much as people. Recently however, she was allowed to start going to high school.

One of Yuuta's mentors, she has commented about the oddities in his powers and growth often, but gets brushed aside by the rest, them thinking it's only because he is a late bloomer. Instructed Sanae to create Ganjouna for Yuuta.

Walter

Only known under his first name, he is the first ability user Yuuta befriends outside of his school life. Raised by his British mother he doesn't mind when people address him with his first name. He's Captain-Commandant of the fourth section of the twelfth division.

He claims to be willing to follow Yuuta until the end of his life, which unnerves Yuuta incredibly.

Dekomori Sanae:

Unknown mostly, she is a prideful craftsmen, who has a peculiar way of introducing herself. Cold to most, she quickly opens up when talking about her craft. She does not seem to dislike her pupil, stating that late bloomers are often great craftsmen, and created Ganjouna for him under Rikka's instruction. Teaches Yuuta to craft and maintain his equipment.

Isshiki Makoto:

Member of the Makoto Clan, Isshiki started infusing his mana circuits in his weapon from a young age, using his almost invisible mana signature to spy on the enemies of his clan and the Temple Council they serve.

He befriended Yuuta before knowing he was to be his pupil eventually. He teaches Yuuta hand-to-hand combat.

Takanashi Touka:

High Priestess of the Organisation, she is an enigma, the only information we currently possess about her is that she is the strongest living Ability User and that she at a point in her past defeated the biggest danger to the real and Other world so far, The Dark Flame Master.

Nibutani Takahiro

Shochou (leader) of a Temple. Shinka's father. Standing at two meters he's a tall man, with broad shoulders. He lost his wife while Shinka was still young.

Shoichi Akehiko

A man with a thin moustache from a well an aristocratic family, he considers everyone inferior to him. Hair weirdly white, combed back. Uses a rapier. One of the eight Captains of the Ninth Section. He dislikes Yuuta because of the broken jaw when they first met.

Reluctantly accept Yuuta as his superior.

Nashima Aika

A young woman, with long black hair tied in a ponytail, few strands strutting out. The strongest of the eight captains that confront Yuuta. Uses a katana and wakizashi. She gets along well with Yuuta who was placed above her after their battle, admiring his natural swordsmanship. She stills enjoys sparring with her Captain-Commandant once in a while.

Ito Nakashim

A burly man with thick, brown curly hair. While he is a Captain, he is mostly a craftsman, specializing in maces, use and creation. Older twin brother of Ito Nokashim.

Ito Nokashim

A burly man with thick, brown curly hair. While he is a Captain, he is mostly a craftsman, specializing in flails, use and creation. Younger twin brother of Ito Nakashim.

Saito Arai

Slightly older than Nashima Aika, she specialises in spells. While she has a vast mana pool she has trouble channelling the full extent still. Her blond hair is shortly kept. Doesn't use a weapon, always using long range spells. Suspected to have a block because of fear of the power she can use.

Kubo Kenji

A heavy shouldered man, standing at 2 metres 10. Uses two heavy war axes. Is not known for his intelligence and relies on brute strength to win all his battles.

Ueno Hana

A silent woman, light brown hair tied up in a bun and thinly framed glasses covering devastating red eyes. She always shows up at the right place, on the right time during battles. The greatest strategist of the eight that tested Yuuta.

Fujii Dai

An enigma even within his temple, not much is known about this lithe, short man (only as tall as Shinka). Stronger than he seems, he prefers using a curved short sword in addition to throwing knives.

Yamishita Kazuma

A scribe from the ninth section, to which Yuuta took a quick liking after he gets picked up by Aika to help her. He got roped into helping Yuuta in his plan to get the Second Section under his control.

Kennou Kai

Intermediary between the Temples and the Organisation.

Manata Tairo

A man in his early seventies, who stands about as tall as Yuuta, and has long grey hair tied together in a tail that hung over his shoulder until the end of his middle. His face is unsurprisingly wrinkled, but the man was strong enough still to keep his Captain position, so he is not to be underestimated.

Nairo Nobuna

A man at the end of his forties, wearing thin grey spectacles over his dark blue eyes, is a bit taller than Yuuta and has the weird habit of shaving his head, but leaving his dark brown beard, which has grown out to his midriff. He has been trying to get the Captain-Commandant position for a while but was always deemed lacking, He feels some resentment toward Yuuta for this fact.

Nara Yuuji

Captain-Commandant of the Second Section of the Twelfth Division.

**Factions**

Roamer: 

All the creatures from the Otherworld were originally Roamers, or with one soul, these usually fight between each other and never try to attack us or cross over in our world. When they fight between each other, the winner will steal the soul of the loser.

Demons:

Those left soulless become Demons. Weaker than both others, they grow in strength by fighting and training among each other. They also unite in Flocks and then Armies to have a stronger position against their enemies, us and angels. We use demon army ranks to classify all creatures by comparing their strengths. When they die their objective knowledge retains and waits to be reinhabited by a soul from a defeated angel.

Angels:

Those with two souls become Angels. One of the souls reconstructs themselves as the body and the other becomes the primary mind, that makes decisions. That's why they have 2 voices. While they hardly fight between each other, they fight demons, to consume their bodies and increase their strength. When they die, the primary mind will search a demon's knowledge and be reborn as a new Roamer. The body decomposes and the soul links with the element in which it died also creating a new Roamer

The Organisation:

The oldest association of Ability Users, started in Italy, Europe, around 476. Much of this group is shrouded in mystery and they are distrusted by their Japanese counterpart, the Temple Council.

The Temple Council:

A loose association of all the temples in Japan, who share knowledge and information, to counter the Organisation's influence in their country. At least that was their purpose when they were formed, in the late 1800's. Lately they themselves have started trying to expand their sphere of influence as well, recruiting several powerful Clans and Ability Users.

**Locations**

The real world:

While normal people are completely unaware of this, our world is filled with mana. This spiritual energy also exists within every single human, and gets used by everyone (when healing from wounds for example). Some humans are born with an above average amount of mana however and are capable of using their mana to fight, heal, and other practical applications. No one knows why our world is filled with mana, and why Ability Users exist.

The Otherworld:

Nobody knows how large the Otherworld is, or what it is. The most accepted theory is that it is a different plane of reality that exist in the same space as ours, which would explain why people can transfer between the two. The denizens of this world however wish to invade ours to consume our mana filled world. All creatures in the Otherworld benefit from consuming mana. Some speculate that their world used to as filled with the energy as ours, which is the reason they want to invade our world.

**Objects**

Ganjouna:

Yuuta's longsword, made by Dekomori Sanae. It's extremely heavy, and constantly saps Yuuta's mana. Used to train him, it could be an immensely dangerous weapon if he ever masters it completely. Originally Shinka thought it only sapped about fifteen percent of his strength, but after seeing him battle the eight Captains, she hypothesised that it's more likely seventy percent or more.

Shirobuchi:

The lightning boken Yuuta received from Heliath. A simple weapon, and Yuuta enjoys using it when he can. For him it's the proof that he is an Ability User, and that his crazy dreams are not as crazy as they seemed. It also holds the promise he made with Heliath to fight again when he's reborn.


	13. 11: Twisting Currents

**11: Twisting Currents**

He awakened in his bed, his bed room neatly cleaned, save for the boxes that contained his former Chuunibyou stuff, and some clothes he hadn't picked up yet. He let out a yawn and tried to move from underneath the covers. He couldn't.

He couldn't move, his blankets restraining his arms by his side. He looked around and first noticed that through his window there was a seamless grey nothing, extending in all directions. A noise from the other side of the room made him twist around in bed.

In the corner that he just couldn't completely see, a figure sat in the shadows, idly flipping through a book. "Don't panic, this is merely a dream," the figure said, clapping the book shut as he noticed Yuuta tossing in his bed.

Something about the voice seemed familiar to Yuuta, as if he'd heard it before, he just couldn't place it. "Who are you?" Yuuta asked, suspicious of the figure. Was he one of his new enemies from the Temple?

"I'm no one important," the man said. "I've come with a warning."

"A warning?" Yuuta questioned, trying to get the man into his view, but his blanket was unmovable.

"They're onto us. Make sure you're ready to defend yourself. I don't know if I'll be able to help you at the moment."

"Who? Us? Help me? Who are you?" Yuuta asked in frustration, still trying the wrestle himself from underneath his covers.

"Like I said, it's not important who I am. They, the ones who defeated us before, they're coming again. Yes, help you, like I've been doing since you've been sucked up into this world again. This is the end of this conversation though. You're not supposed to stay too long in this place."

"This place? Wait, I have questions?!" Yuuta yelled, but he felt himself twirling out of this vague dream world.

* * *

Yuuta tumbled backward, taking his heavy office chair with him. He shook his head, trying to remember the dream. The memories faded fast however, as they do with any other dream. In the first place, why had he thought it was something other than just a dream?

He crawled upright, using his desk to pull himself up in his drowsiness. Why was he in his office again? Right, they had stayed up late planning everything. He hoped people just thought he had some catch-up to do instead of being suspicious of him. _Seriously though, _he thought, _can I stop planning every move I make?_

A blanket was discarded on the ground next to his chair, someone had tucked him in. He felt a blush crawling up. He was not a kid anymore, he didn't need to be wrapped in like a babe. He pulled the chair upright and folded the blanket. If there were going to be more of these nights, he might need to consider getting some sort of pallet in here to sleep on.

He removed his cell phone from his pocket, and checked the time. He had to leave pretty soon, if he wanted to have any hope of getting to school on time. He stuck his head out of the door of his office to check if there was anyone in the adjacent room yet. It was empty this early, of course.

He removed his creased uniform from his bag. He felt less dumb then yesterday for taking along a change to school, just for his meeting with Walter. He started undressing quickly, discarding the suit he was wearing on the ground. _In addition to a pallet, I need to get some extra clothes here_, his mind wandered off as he put the pants of his uniform back on.

Right then, the door to his office opened. He turned slowly, only to see Aika stand in the doorway. He felt the blush creep up again, but pushed the shame down. He was wearing more then he would have if they'd been at a pool. He felt the commander take control again, and motioned her in.

She pushed some of the clutter on the desk on a bigger heap, creating a bit of room for her to put down a tray in front of his chair. He, in the meantime, buttoned his shirt. She turned around, showing that she was carrying both a black folder and a blue envelope. He strolled over to his chair, putting on his jacket while walking over.

"Did you sleep well?" Aika asked sweetly.

"Yeah… better than expected since I did it in this chair," Yuuta responded.

"Not too cold?" she asks.

"No, and I guess you were the one to tuck me in?" Yuuta asked, this time unable to keep his cheeks from colouring slightly.

"I wouldn't dare tuck in my big bad commander!" Her smile broke through.

"Just laugh already!" Yuuta exclaimed, feeling exasperated.

And on cue, the older woman lost control and started laughing. It didn't take long before Yuuta joined her. A couple of minutes later their laughing had subsided.

"So? Did we finish the necessary paperwork?" Yuuta asked.

"Yes, yes I did." She smiled. "Most of it was done when you started dozing off so I finished it. I simply need your signatures on these orders before the execution of the plan can start." She handed over the black folder, and blue envelope.

"And this?" He wondered, raising the envelope, simply marked _Yuuta_.

"One of the scribes brought it in just now. I suspect it's from Walter, to tell you his end is ready and he is waiting for your signal." She shrugged.

He ripped open the envelope, and retrieved the paper from inside. He folded it open, and small cursive letters read '_Don't trust everyone so easily'_. Yuuta gritted his teeth. That was too close to some of the things the voice in his head said to him at times. He crumbled up the paper, and threw it in the trash.

"What was it?" Aika asked curiously.

"Nothing. Just give me the papers I need to sign," Yuuta barked, his annoyance at the mystical letter even clearer.

Aika handed over the folder, and Yuuta started signing the orders. Luckily, he had done that during the work last night as well, so he only had to catch up a bit. While he was scrawling, Aika removed the cover of the tray she had put down, revealing a cup of coffee and a couple of croissants.

"Thank you," he grumbled, taking a sip of the coffee. He was not happy that he flared out so easily at times.

"It's no problem, I couldn't get over my heart to make you go to school on an empty stomach." Aika said, a bit dramatic.

Yuuta checked his phone. _Crap_, was the one thought that shot through his mind. He closed the folder containing the half-finished orders, and gulped down the hot coffee. He grunted and grabbed a croissant that he started stuffing in his mouth. "I'm off, Aika-san, else I'll be late. I'll finish the orders tonight."

"You're not done?" she asked as he shot through the doors. She shook her head slightly, grabbed the folder and followed him out of the complex.

With the croissant still in his mouth, he ran out the main entryway, passing through the courtyard of the building. He shot through the gates but stopped when he heard his name called. He glanced around to see where the sound came from.

"Togashi-sama!" it sounded again. He turned, to see one of the cars that he took so often standing behind him. He walked over to it, and the driver rolled down the window.

"Togashi-sama, have you no need for our service then?"

"Did I ask for you to wait here?" Yuuta asked, confused.

"I did," a woman's voice sounded from behind him. "I guessed you'd be late if I didn't arrange this. And I do need you to finish this." She stepped up to the car and opened the back door. Grumbling, Yuuta joined her.

The driver took of the moment that Yuuta buckled himself in. He sighed, "Thank you again, Aika-san."

"Yuuta-kun, I'm here to help you for these first few days, and after too, I am your subordinate after all. It is funny that such a capable commander, who spend a whole night managing the intricacies of a militant plan, is such a klutz," she smiled.

"Message received," Yuuta sighed. "Give me the folder, I'll finish the orders now."

* * *

He got out of the car, only to be greeted by his girlfriend tapping her foot at the school gates. He walked up to her, and tried to envelop her in his arms. She deftly dodged his hug however.

"Where were you? I was waiting for you at the station!" she growled, her voice low, but somehow managing to sound like a shout too.

"I… I slept at the office. I worked into the night, and fell asleep behind my desk. I'm lucky Aika got me a driver else I wouldn't have been here yet," he whispered back.

"How could you have to work an all-nighter, on your first day in the office?" Her eyes narrowed, "What are you upto?"

"Nothing, nothing, I've just been catching up with all the work that got set aside since my predecessor."

"I don't believe you, but I'll wait 'till lunch to hear you out," she said, crossing her arms. "When those first few plans start falling apart, you'll come to me for advise anyway."

"I'm sure I don't have to remind you, but since I've got control over my mana most of our games of chess have ended in draws."

She glared, "So, you think your mister big strategist now? Fine, we're putting today's planned training off. Tuesday is going to be strategy day from now on."

"I… fine, let's just go in, before we're late," he responded, and clasped her hand, pulling her into the school.

They entered the building, but bumped into someone just behind the doors.

"Watch where you walk Yuuta!" Rikka pushed him aside, marching past them. Nibutani reacted quickly however, grabbing her by her arm.

"You could be nicer to your friends, you know. And I don't appreciate you using my boyfriend's first name," Nibutani was annoyed. And he was to blame. He quickly tried to calm down the situation, these two were close enough to fighting as is.

"Come on guys. Calm down. First of all, Shinka, she's been using my first name for some time now, and it's never bothered you before. Don't work out your annoyance on someone other than me if I'm the cause," he said. Nibutani let go of Rikka, and again, folded her arms across her chest, showing her displeasure.

"And you, Rikka," he turned, "There's no need to snap at people. We had no way of knowing you were coming around that corner. We're friends, and bumping into each other should be fun, no?"

She glared at him, "Does it look like I care? You're no friends of mine, at most I see you as a training partner, and that only reluctantly, since you're so damn weak. And another thing," she pushed a single finger to his chest, "I don't listen to you."

She turned and stalked off, leaving Yuuta and Nibutani. "You know, for once, I agree with the girl. Why should I listen to you?" Nibutani asked.

"Yo! Nibutani-san, Yuuta-kun!"

"Isshiki, thank god you're here!" Yuuta almost danced in joy.

"Oh, trouble in paradise?" he asked.

"No, we're just having a bit of a disagreement," Nibutani responded, finally seeming to relax a bit.

"Yeah, nothing special." Yuuta added, quickly siding with Shinka, hoping he'd be able to dodge getting questioned again that way.

"Hmm, hey, do you guys know what's up with Takanashi? She stampeded right past me just now."

"Who knows what goes on in that girl's head," Nibutani answered.

"She seemed upset about something, but that's all I know. We only just saw her too."

"Don't you live underneath her? Like, don't you guys come to school together?"

"I… I didn't leave from home today." Yuuta grinned.

"What?" Makoto looked shocked, confusing the others. "Does that mean that you two… slept togeth-"

His sentence was cut off by both members of the couple, who were using all the negative statements they knew to deny it. "No way!" "Nope!" "No! Just no!" "The hell do you think, of course not!" "Get your mind out of the gutter Makoto, don't even dare think about Shinka that way."

"Ok! Ok! Got it!" Makoto waved his hands, cutting their talking off. "I knew Yuuta didn't have the balls."

"At least I have the balls to ask someone out Makoto." Yuuta responded smugly, wrapping an arm around Nibutani, who allowed it after a short glance.

"I, don't parade you guys' relationship in front of me! I'll be dating our cutest senpai, mark my dman words you… you… skanks."

In sync, Nibutani and Yuuta looked unimpressed by the insult. "Skanks? Come on man, you're better than that," Yuuta said, shaking his head. It was then that the bell rang.

"Apparently not though, and he won't have any chance to figure out a better one. Come on, class is starting." Now it was Nibutani's turn to drag Yuuta along, being followed by a dejected Isshiki.

* * *

They were sitting on a walkway, on top of the roof. Their school didn't actually have a flat roof, but they did have a wooden walkway installed, because many pupils had been complaining about being unable to lunch on the roof. Strangely enough, the walkway was empty except for them. They sat on the edge, letting their feet hang off the broad passageway.

Yuuta was munching on a sandwich he had bought in the cafeteria earlier in the day, and kicking his feet idly. He knew the girl next to him wanted to talk about something, but he let her think about her words. She had hardly touched her lunchbox.

"What are you up to, Yuuta?" She finally asked. Simple and sweet. The question was loaded though.

He sighed. "What do you mean, exactly?"

"Okay, we've been dating for a month now. We kiss, we talk, and spend some time together. We've gone on six dates, if you count the ones when we were interrupted by Rikka, when we started the night with Isshiki, and when you met my father. Yet you seem distant at times still. You hardly move closer unless I prod you too. Do you not want to go out anymore?" the question stayed in the air for a second.

He opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted by the girl once more.

"Then, I hear you've stayed up an entire night with Nashima-san, who calls you by your first name, and is… moderately attractive. What's that all about?" her voice strained, she was trying not to shout. There might be no one around up here, there were still people walked around down in the courtyard.

He once again tried to answer. Tried.

"You know, I talked to the people under you, most seem to have taken a liking to you, even though you kicked their teeth in just two days ago. Even Shoichi-san buckled, and you broke his damn jaw. How did you do it? Why are you trying so hard for something you're only doing because of me? What is going on inside that head of yours?" she ended. The silence remained.

"Are you done now?" he asked tentatively.

She nodded.

"Listen, Shinka, I'll try to address everything, but you've said quite a lot, so forgive me if I forget something."

She nodded again, she trembled slightly. "_Was this the same battle-hardened commander I saw on Sunday?" _the thought crossed his mind.

"Okay, I can't exactly explain everything that goes on in my head, at least just yet. There are some things that our relationship is a bit too… fresh for."

She looked at him, her eyes narrowing to a glare slowly as she made the connection in her head.

"Anyway," he continued, feeling flustered, "you yourself said once that I'm capable of putting people in positions where they wish to serve me. I don't do it on purpose, and you know that."

Her eyes widened slightly, as if she was surprised he remembered that conversation.

"I'm trying so hard because I do it for you. I want to stand right next to you, so I have to try. I want to protect you, I want to be your equal and not a liability. That's why I try."

She wanted to talk, but this time he stopped her.

"I love you, Shinka. It might be a bit too early for me to spout that out like some lost sentence, but I believe it to be truth. Yes, I keep my distance, because somewhere, I can't believe you'd want to be with me. I'm just… me. A love-struck teenager that doesn't know anything and simply moves on instinct. It's merely luck that my instinct is seemingly always correct."

He clasped her hand. "I didn't cheat on you with Aika, nor do I plan to. It kind of hurts that you think these kinds of things of me, I'm supposed to be the insecure one."

Her mouth worked, but no sound came out. He let go of her hand, and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her closer. She stumbled in his embrace, and crumbled his shirt with one of her hands. She remained silent, and they held the position for what seemed an hour, although in all actuality, it was less than five minutes.

"I believe you," finally came out of her mouth, softly, the words muffled by his chest.

"Believe what?"

"That you love me," she raised herself up, staring him straight into his eyes. Her amber coloured eyes shined. "I… I love you too. You doofus."

"Was that last part really necessary?" he asked, a half smile forming.

She wiped her eyes with her sleeves, although, as far as he had noticed, she hadn't cried. "Of course, I can hardly let you think you're the one who wears the pants in this relationship, can I?"

"Well," he gestured to their uniforms, "I kind of am." He smiled completely now.

"Figuratively, of course. Are you sure you're fit to lead people?" she smiled softly. "That reminds me though, you still didn't explain what you've been doing all night."

"I… fine, I guess I could tell you, but not now, not here. Could you come over to my place tonight?" he asked.

"You mean, after school? Don't you have to go to the office?" she asked curiously.

"No, it should be fine. In fact, it might be better if I don't go tonight. But anyway, not after school, I'd like to shower and such before we meet up again."

"I'm coming with you after school," she stated, nice and simple.

"And what will you be doing while I'm showering?"

"I don't know, watch TV? I can wait for half an hour or so, you know."

"Alright alright, I get it," he gave over.

"Thank you, Yuuta." She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss. A long kiss.

* * *

The bell rang, finally freeing them from class. It was only a matter of seconds before Yuuta had stuffed his books away and set out. He walked to door, ready to leave. _"Wait… Shinka, I have to wait for her." _He turned and saw she was wrapped up in a conversation with some other girls. He sighted and posted himself just outside the door, to wait for his girl.

Someone slipped around the corner, and crashed into him. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked, noticing it was Rikka.

"Again, you numbskull, watch where you're walking," she growled, declining his help to get up.

"Excuse me, but you walked into me this time around. I was just standing here."

"You were standing in my damn way, that's what you were," she glared at him.

"Then maybe you should watch out were you walk," he answered, keeping his face straight.

"Whatever, have fun with your little bitch tonight," she tried to walk past him. He didn't let her. "Get out of my way!"

"No. What's up with you Rikka? I know you and Shinka don't always get along, but I'm not going to let you call her bitch right in my face," he asked, anger sneaking into his tone.

"What is it to you? You don't even care about anyone but yourself! You've just been using me as a training partner!" People started gathering around them.

"Who says I don't consider you a friend? And either way, that does not give you any right to call her a bitch!"

"I call her a bitch because she is a bitch, just as much as you're a fucking asshole!"

"Stop calling her a bitch! Do you not want to be friends or something? You're not playing your cards very right if you do want to! Do you think we invite you to lunch with us, that we talk with you, that we exchanged addresses and mail each other for nothing?"

She gritted her teeth and pushed past him. He grabbed her arm. "Answer me, Rikka, damn it!"

"Dude, calm down." Makoto tapped his shoulder. Yuuta glanced around and saw the crowd gathered around them. He let go of Rikka, and she slipped through the crowd immediately.

"What was up?" Makoto asked, as the crowd started to dissipate slowly, although some stayed around, questions in their eyes. Including Nibutani. He inhaled deeply, banding his emotions down again. Calm once more he waved to Shinka.

"What was up, Yuuta? I heard you screaming from the inside," she asked. She seemed a bit worried.

"I…" he ran his hand through his hair, "I don't exactly know, to be honest. She ran into me, started verbally attacking me and called you a bitch. I kind of just responded in kind." He sighed. "I've been dumb."

"You're dumb so often Yuuta!" Isshiki tried to lighten the mood.

"I swear Isshiki, how can someone so bad at reading moods be a competent spy?"

"He did have a point though. You do get wrapped up in emotions pretty quickly." Nibutani looked thoughtful.

"And I am a competent spy, thank you very much. I'm so good even you guys hardly notice it when I'm around."

"Why so thoughtful, Shinka?" Yuuta asked, ignoring Makoto.

"Huh? Nothing, I was just lost in thought for a moment there."

"We off then?" Yuuta asked.

"Yeah." She clasped his hand and they left Isshiki behind.

"Damn you lovey dovey people!" he threw at them, but they just kept ignoring him. He ran after them, and grabbed Yuuta by the shoulder.

"What is it, Isshiki?" Yuuta asked, looking over his shoulder.

"Listen man, I can't train with you anymore. At least for a while."

The couple turned at that. "Why?" Yuuta asked, curious.

"I have a job from the higher-ups," Nibutani opened her mouth, "one that even you can't override Nibutani."

"What is your job this time around?" Yuuta wondered.

"I can't say much. I need to locate a certain target. We aren't allowed to spread any information. I can't say anything more to you, Yuuta."

"Does it have anything to do with what Taka… with what Kennou-san announced last council?" Nibutani asked him. Yuuta glanced, noticing the trip she made.

Isshiki simply nodded.

"Who's Kennou-san?" Yuuta asked of them. Both grew silent for a second.

"Someone that has nothing to do with you," Nibutani eventually said.

"So, you can tell me about him?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"You don't have to worry about him just yet. Leave it be, will you? You curious bastard," Nibutani answered.

"Is there really a need for name calling? But fine, I'll let it go," Yuuta sighed, his girlfriend could glare like a champ when she feels like it.

"Well… I'm off then!" Isshiki walked away in the awkward moment between them.

"You chased him off," Yuuta said

"I did not!" Nibutani exclaimed.

"You did though, but, shall we be off as well. I smell and I'd really like that shower now."

She laughed.

* * *

"Hey brother! Oh I see Nibutani-san is here as well." Kuzuha welcomed them home.

"Hey Kuzuha-san," Nibutani smiled at his sister.

"Welp, Kuzuha, do me a favour, keep her entertained while I take a shower," Yuuta sprinted away before she could object.

"Why do I have to do it?!" she yelled, unheard by him.

"Don't worry about it, Kuzuha-san, I'm quite used to your brothers… shortcomings by now. I'll just watch a bit of TV or something."

"I'll join you, I don't have anything to do anyway. Want a drink?" the younger girl asked.

"Sure, uhm… some cola should be fine," Nibutani walked over to the couch.

A minute or so later, Kuzuha plodded into the couch, and handed her a glass. The young girl picked up the remote. "What do you want to see?" she asks, as she turns the TV on.

"Whatever, I doubt he'll be in the shower long."

"You don't know my brother that well then," she snorted, "he'll be away for at least half an hour."

She sighed, but waved with her hand, "Still, you pick, I don't really care."

The girl started switching channels and eventually settled on a western vampire movie. "I love this movie," the girl said.

Nibutani arched her eyebrow, _"Seriously? A movie about sparkling vampires? Well, she is the demographic they're aiming for after all." _

And so they watched. Just when Nibutani started tuning out completely the girl asked something.

"What is it you like about my brother?"

"I… He's funny, and nice, and pretty cute too."

"Is he really cute?" she asked, her face flabbergasted.

"Well, I think he is…" Nibutani didn't like this.

"I thinks he's a doofus. You should have seen him last year, always wearing this weird black leather stuff, and way too many belts for a sane person. That's even forgetting the air pressure rifle and giant sword he tried to carry around everywhere."

"Well… then he's changed a lot," she said.

"Would you have been dating him if he still acted like that?" the girl asked, pausing the movie.

"I think I would… I mean, he would still be about the same except a whole lot dorkier right?"

"No… he was super serious about it. He knew this girl, and she joined him in his weird delusions. We thought for a while they'd start going out but then the pink-haired oddball moved away."

"Pink hair? Please tell me it's not Shichimiya?"

"It was? Do you know her?"

"She was a student in the same middle school as me for some time. After she moved from here then I guess," Nibutani reluctantly explained.

"Really? Was she still as odd as she was around him?"

"I think so?" she said, while thinking back to those days. Shichimiya had always been bragging about this guy she knew, that would one day be the strongest ability user they'd ever meet. Or at least that's what the souls from the otherworld said to her. Nibutani shivered slightly. Those were not souls you captured without losing some of your sanity in the process.

"From you shivers I'm guessing yes. She ran around calling Yuusha and toching his nose with hers constantly. We were really surprised that they weren't dating."

"Well, she did that with all her close friends at one point. Even with me."

"Really, you were friends with Shichimiya? I guess I can see why you like my brother now."

"Oh come on… he's not so bad, is he?"

"I guess, he's become more normal lately… and he is pretty smart, he always helps me when I need it so… he's not that bad."

"What're you girls talking about?" Yuuta entered the room, drying his hair with a towel.

"Nothing!" Nibutani immediately answered.

Yuuta narrowed his eyes, his look moving from Nibutani to his grinning younger sister.

"We were actually talking about how much of a dumbass you are," the smile persisting on Kuzuha's face.

"Oh really? Did you also tell her that this dumbass has to help you with your homework all the time? Doesn't that make you the bigger dumbass?" he answered, plodding himself down next to Nibutani.

"At least I'm not such a moron that I forget to offer my friend a drink when she comes to my place."

"I… Fair enough," he surrendered with a sigh. "Thank you, Kuzuha. Do you have any clue when mom will be back?"

"Regular hours today, so call her to say Nibutani-san is here. She'll need to adjust the grocery list."

"I'm not staying for…" she glanced at Yuuta, who looked at her curiously. "Well… I guess I can stay for dinner."

"Don't forget to call your father then, I'd rather not he tried to kill me next time I see him," Yuuta laughed.

"Is her father that scary, Yuuta?" Kuzuha chimed in.

"The man is huge! And he has the shoulders and neck of a bull!" Yuuta exaggerated, and started laughing.

"He's not that bad, Yuuta!" Shinka pushed him.

He tumbled over, and just laughed for a bit longer before sitting upright again. "You'll be okay here, right Kuzuha?"

"Yeah yeah, I'll just watch the movie. Don't forget to call mom, I'm not doing it for you," she said.

"I'm calling her now," he said, retrieving his phone from his pocket and getting up from the couch. "You should call your place too," he said to Nibutani as he motioned her to follow.

Nibutani nodded, and got her phone from her bag, and following him to his room.

"Hi mom, yeah, yeah I'm home,… got it…," Yuuta was already in conversation with his mom when she caught up with him in the hallway. "Yeah, mom, I'm actually calling because Shinka is staying over for dinner. Yes, she's here right now. Mom, come on, I'm not a child anymore. Okay… Love you too. Bye!"

"And you're in the clear with my mom," he grinned, opening the door to his room. She walked in, dialling her father.

"Yes, Shinka?" her father's voice sounded over the phone.

"Hi dad, I'm staying over at Yuuta's for dinner, is that okay?" she asked.

"I'd rather not have you alone with him, he's a guy after all."

"His sister is here too. And I've been alone with him many times already."

She heard her father sigh heavily on the other side. "Fine, have fun. I'm too busy to have dinner with you anyway. The Temple Council is in upheaval, everyone is pointing fingers, and trying to find out who hid the Dark Flame Master."

"Did you find anything?" she asked.

A short silence followed. "No," he eventually said. She was immediately suspicious.

"What did you figure out?" she tried to convey her glare through her voice.

"Nothing. I'll see you home around ten… or do you want me to get someone to bring you a change of clothes?"

"No!" Yuuta looked at her, surprised at her sudden loud voice. "I'm not spending the night with him, dad," her voice quiet, hoping Yuuta wouldn't hear. He seemed to have not to, and was laying out a map over the floor.

"I would hope so, but you might not have wanted to come home since his house is closer to the station than ours. I'll send a car around at …?"

"Nine. Oh, and you're telling me what you've found out tonight too." She dropped the call. Yuuta passed her, and grabbed his pillow from his bed, throwing it down on the carpeted floor.

"Sit," he motioned to the pillow.

She complied. He sat across from her. She looked over the map, recognizing it as the map dividing the patrol districts.

"I'm listening," she says.

Yuuta started talking, explaining the plan to snare the Second into an alliance. She listened attentively, not interrupting him.

"This is not a bad plan… how will you prevent from it leaking though?"

He laughed softly, "Aika asked as well, you see, first of all, only Aika and me know the scope of the plan, well and Walter, but that's beside the point." He explained about the rumour they were spreading with the orders, and how they thought they would keep the contents of the plan secret.

"Pride. A good pick. It's an emotion most ability users have a bit too much off."

He beamed at her compliment.

"Make sure you don't fall in the same pit," she said.

He faltered.

"I'm surprised, Yuuta. I hardly think anyone else so recently promoted would immediately start up things like this. It's… odd, since, even just a month ago, you had no idea this world even existed."

He shrugged, "I have good teachers I guess. I just see it as a huge chess game. Anticipating counter moves, changing your plans, making sure you have back up. It's all the same, just on a bigger scale."

"You do realize, that, maybe not now, but you might put people's lives at risk, don't you?"

"Like I said, make sure you have back up. Increasing the patrol size and keeping the higher ranks as a strike force should protect the lives of everyone."

"You can't always do that. You don't always have the luxury to keep troops from the field."

"I…" he looked a bit distraught. She could almost see him running over the plans he'd made, looking for the place he made the mistake, where he was going to lose people.

"I'm just reminding you, Yuuta. It's been rather peaceful, but not that long ago there was constant war between the temples."

"I understand," he seemed to relax.

She glanced at her phone, and noticed more than an hour had passed. "Well, it's been an hour, is your mom home? I'd like to at least say hi before joining your dinner table."

He looked surprised. "It's been an hour already? But, yeah… she should be here about now." He got up, extending a hand toward her, which she gladly took. He pulled her upright.

He bend down to pick up the map, rolling it and returning it to the tube it had been in. They left the room and walked into the living room.

Kuzuha was still watching her movie, but the other sister, Yumeha, was running around. She squealed in joy when she noticed her brother and immediately latched around his legs. He smiled and tussled her hair.

"Who's she, brother?" the little girl asked, pointing up at Nibutani.

"She's my girlfriend, you've seen her before, remember?" Yuuta explained.

She seemed to ponder for a moment before nodding. She let go of his leg and walked closer to Nibutani. The older girl followed her with her eyes, a smile plastered on her lips. Young kids were always a weak point for her.

"Hi Nibuta… tani-san!" the girl shyly said, tripping over the her name.

Nibutani sank through her knees, coming to about eye level with the younger girl. "Hello Yumeha-san, you may call me Shinka," she extended a hand to the girl.

The girl didn't quite seem to get it, and slung her arms around Nibutani's neck. "I like you, Shinka-san!" Nibutani turned her head slightly, trying to save her ears from the loud girl in her arms. Yuuta watched the scene enfold with a smile.

"Alright, Yumeha, Shinka's staying for dinner so you can play with her later, but we want to go talk with mom now."

"Ok, brother," the girl said. She ran off, and started talking to Kuzeha, whose movie just ended. They walked toward the kitchen where his mother was busy working with the food. Nevertheless, she noticed them approaching.

"Hey Yuuta, hey Nibutani-san, how are you two? You've spend some time in Yuuta's room," she said, with a wink at the end.

Nibutani flushed slightly, but responded quickly, "I've been well, thank you for letting me stay over for dinner."

"It's not a problem, cooking for one more person makes it feel like Yuuta's father is here. Did Yuuta tell you he works in Jakarta?"

"He did. At least, I seem to remember him mentioning it at some time."

"I did!" Yuuta said, his voice muffled behind a cabinet door. He moved around his cooking mother with plates and started setting the table.

"Where is the cutlery?" Nibutani asked, as she moved up to help him set the table.

* * *

"Ugh… your mom's a great cook," Nibutani dropped on the bed, clutching her stomach, as if it would explode.

"You should mention that to her. Did you overeat?" he plopped down next to her.

"I might have," she said, grinning.

"Well, good thing you have people at your beck and call to drive you around."

"So do you, Yuuta. I seem to remember someone not taking the train this morning."

He smiled innocently. She punched his shoulder.

"Yeah, you know that doesn't work."

He smiled. That boyish smile she like so much. She kissed him, enveloping him in her arms. He answered immediately, holding her tight around her waist, pulling her closer at her neck, his hand running through her hair.

Slowly, she felt him pushing her down, laying her on the bed. She didn't stop him. They stopped to breathe for a second, and in that slight distraction, she turned the tables on him. Rolling over, she landed on top, her skirt bunching around her waist.

Yuuta looked dazed, and she felt herself losing control as well. He pulled her down, back into their kiss. Time seemed to slow down. She wanted to stop, but some part of her, growing in strength, didn't. Her hands began to wander over his chest, as his hands started gliding down from their position at her waist.

She pushed away. She tore herself away. Tightly grabbing her self-control back, she climbed off him. She sat herself back on the edge of the bed. It was only then she noticed that they were breathing hard. She tidied her skirt, covering herself properly.

"I'm sorry," silently, a whisper came through his harsh breath.

She scrambled for her magic, engulfing her in her core. Controlling the mana flows in her body, she calmed herself, slowing her heart.

"You're not to blame. After all boys will be boys," she smiled, turning her head to look at him.

His eyes were covered with his arm. His other arm laid next to him, the fist clenched. He was struggling to keep in control.

"I didn't mind, you know?" she said, silent as his first whisper, "In fact, I liked it."

He lifted his arm, his green eyes turned to her. His fist loosened. "Still, I shouldn't have."

"Excuse me mister, do you really think you'd be able to do this without me allowing it? I'm pretty sure I was just as much part of it as you were," she scolded him.

He grinned, "I guess that's true." He joined her at the edge of the bed, sighing loudly.

"What?" she scowled.

"I don't know. Somehow it's funny to me how disjointed our lives are."

She stared at him blankly. "What?" she repeated.

"I mean, two hours ago, we were deeply planning war strategies and discussing the lives of hundreds of people. And now we're two stupid teenagers, who are struggling to have control over their urges."

"You think about these things too much," she pushed him over. "We're teenagers, yes. Our relationship is new, young, and we're both not horribly experienced on the area. That being said, at least one of us is ridiculously powerful for her age, and the other is not bad either. Beside that fact, I've also been trained since I was five to be in the position I have now. Two entirely different things."

"Are you bragging right now?" he asked, grinning again, the mood seemingly passed.

"Oh shut up," she hit him with his pillow.

"What time are they picking you up?" his muffled voice passed through the pillow.

The bell rang. She glanced at the clock on his night stand. "Now, they're picking me up now."

He jumped up, and they kissed goodbye while still in his room. They walked through the living room, where Kuzuha and Yuuta's mother both waved goodbye, when they passed, Yumeha being tucked into bed. He opened the door for her, where one of the driver's stood.

"Good evening, Togashi-sama, Nibutani-sama," he bowed slightly. "I'm here to drive Nibutani-sama home."

"We know," Nibutani said with a sigh, "Why else would you be here?"

The man ignored the question, turning to Yuuta. "Togashi-sama, Nashima-sama asked me to deliver you this," he handed him a folder.

Nibutani looked curiously at the folder. Yuuta opened it quickly and groaned.

"What is it?"

"I won't be on the train tomorrow either," he said.

"Why?" she asked.

"Something went wrong somewhere, Aika is going to fill me in tomorrow."

She nodded, "I'll see you at the temple then?"

"Isn't that completely out of your way?"

"You'll be using a car anyway, we'll still have the drive to school together then."

"Fine, fine. Meet you there at… eight? It'll probably be over by then."

"Ok," she kissed him quickly on the cheek, and started off down the stairs. The chauffeur quickly followed.

He turned inward, and opened the folder again.

He read the little note. "_Kazuma sends one. Tomorrow at seven. Don't be late."_

He read the name silently, as he entered his room once more, "Shiho Maiko…"

* * *

**Author's Notes**

Hello hello, and welcome back to the end of a chapter. So far so good for the monthly update thing I promised. Honestly, I didn't think I'd make it. Lots and lots of schoolwork has been weighing me down. I am however, getting somewhat of a writer mentality, I'm able to sit down and write whenever I want now, instead of waiting on my fickle mistress, the muse that loves to hate me. Anyway, last chapter was about the temple, this chapter was about the people. Yuuta and Nibutani's relationship, Rikka's struggles with her stigma, and in the background the churning chaos that's building in the temple council. I feel quite happy how this chapter turned out, although I did want to force some more stuff into it, I feel it would have fallen apart then. But look at me rambling on and on. I'll say goodbye now, leave a review if you have the time, I love reading them, and as always

Thanks for reading.


	14. 12: Rising Tides

**12: Rising Tides**

He regarded the messenger in front of him. _"Finally," _he thought. He had been waiting for this messenger since his plan had begun. The man handed him a blue envelope. He studied the man for a bit longer, seeing if he was in the list of possible compatriots of Nara Yuuji, but dismissed as he didn't recognize him from the descriptions Maiko and Kazuma had given him.

The messenger walked out, and Yuuta settled back into his chair. He had been surprised that Kazuma had found someone so quickly to help him. Kazuma had been there when he met her too. He said he had tested her somehow, and had found her trustworthy.

The woman had been odd. She acted like she was his age, although she was quite a bit older then him. He had talked with her for a bit, seeing if he could figure out what Kazuma's test had been about. She had not spilled a word about it, although she had shown some irritation. When he had asked her why, she had said, "I hate that he played me like that. Like I'm some kind of chatty harlot."

They had laughed right then. He had decided to fill her in. She didn't blink an eye, as he explained what he was planning. "Now I see why Kazuma thought you were interesting, Togashi-sama," she had said, "I don't like working against other people that are supposed to be our allies. But, I guess, I can see your point. If Kazuma trust you, I will too."

Yuuta had called Kazuma in, and had given them an extra assignment. They had to create a cypher for the network. He didn't want any information leaking in any way.

"Aren't you going to open that, Togashi-sama?" Maiko entered his office, her twin tails swishing from side to side.

"I was thinking about when I met you," he said.

"Was it such a special moment for you then? I guess you don't meet such a pretty girl of your age every day," she smiled innocently.

He shook his head slightly, "Did you recognise the man leaving?" he asked, not wanting to get into an argument.

"Yes, he's a transfer from one of the other Divisions," she said, dropping two folders on his desk.

"And this is?" he gestured.

"The cypher you requested. Every message you get from us will be in this cypher, learn it by heart, and then destroy it."

"Got it. If you're here anyway, learned anything new or useful?" he was stalling, the letter on his desk was what he had been waiting for, but he wasn't completely sure he was ready for the next part.

"Well, I don't know if it's the pressure you've been putting on him or is he's discovered us, but he's been using other scribes. We're still able to locate where the 'orders' go, at least as far as the Central Archives, but they change multiple hands now before they get there."

"Has there been any sign of discovery?" he asked, if he had been discovered, this would be even harder.

"No, I don't think we have been discovered. The only people that I've seen both around here and in the Second Section are unaffiliated scribes, as far as we can determine at least, and one of your Captains."

"One of mine? Who?"

"The old guy… Manata I believe his name is. I ran into him last Monday."

"When?"

"He came out of the group office late at night. He ran into me, literally."

"What was he doing there?"

"He didn't say, he hardly thinks scribes are worth noting. He was nice, but you could see he didn't actually care."

"Care? Manata is incredibly caring. I hardly think he doesn't care."

"Well, than he's a good actor, either to you or me."

"I don't believe he's a spy. I asked him to help me with this endeavour and he completely pushed it off. If he was spying on us, he'd have wanted to be in, right?"

She shrugged, "I don't know."

Yuuta felt uncomfortable. If Manata was spying for Nara, he'd know that Yuuta planned something. He might even know what. When he picked up the letter, it seemed heavier than it had only a minute ago.

Maiko came glancing over his shoulder, but after he cast her a glare, she walked back over to the front of the desk.

He broke the seal. He retrieved the letter from inside.

* * *

_Esteemed colleague_

_My name is Nara Yuuji, I am the Captain-Commandant of the Second Section. We have not met yet, but I'm in dire need of support._

_It's come to my attention that my Section is unable to keep up with their current workload. My men have been wrung out, and in their exhaustion have made mistakes. These have not yet become costly, but there have been some injuries, and just today, one of them nearly lost an arm._

_This situation has to be rectified, and if possible, I'd like you to send some troops to serve under my jurisdiction until the threat is cleared. Please send a note back as fast as you can. I can meet you at a moment's notice._

_Signed_

_Nara Yuuji_

* * *

Yuuta sighed in relief. It's all happening according to the plan.

"Maiko, sent Nashima-san in, and then run over to the second, and tell them I'm coming momentarily," Yuuta commanded.

The woman bowed slightly and then left. A minute later, Aika walked in.

"Is it what we hoped for?" she asked immediately.

"Yes, we're going over there now. I want you to come with me." He handed her the letter.

She skimmed it quickly. "The least you could say about him is that he has a flair for writing. I don't like the fact that he wants to place some of ours under his power though."

"Yeah, I don't either, but that'll just give me more of a reason to go over there, to discuss the terms of this 'temporary' alliance. I have some plans for that," he tapped a black folder on his desk.

"I know that. If you remember, I was the one who did most of that writing. You may have dictated it, but I wrote it," she said. "Either way, when are we going?"

"When Maiko returns, we'll go. Let's give him a bit of time to prepare."

"And let him lure us in a trap?"

"This is the linchpin of the whole plan. If I don't seem trustworthy, he might still sign this thing, but his soldiers won't agree with it. I need to seem a better leader than he is."

"You say seem a lot. So far you've been pretty trustwothy, and I'm pretty sure you're a better leader than he is. He bought his men's loyalty."

"I haven't done much to earn the loyalty of ours either. Most of them just follow me because you do."

"You can't be a friend of everyone. Trust cascades. They trust me, and I trust you, so they trust you as well."

"So far you've been right," he grimaced.

"Come on Yuuta, how many of the other Captain-Commandants do you think have the open door policy you have? Just yesterday you spend a whole hour talking with a Lieutenant. You were doing some work in the meantime, but still. He'll relay that to his underlings as well," she admonished him.

He sighed. "I know. This whole thing is stressing me out though. Somehow I feel like I'm forgetting something important, and I'm scared it has something to do with this."

"I've only known you for a week. In that time, you've beaten me and seven other at the same time, you've rebuild the command chain of this section, created a plan to bring another section begging at your heels, formed an alliance with another through Walter, discovered a plan that might endanger a superior, and set up a, if small, spy group. And still you worry. If there was anything wrong with the plan, you'd have noticed by now."

He rubbed his forehead. "I'm just a teenager. I know I've been… somewhat imposing on everyone here, but I'm still just a teenager. Do you really expect me to believe I didn't make any mistakes?"

"So what if you're a teenager? So is Nibutani-sama, and she's quite a bit ahead of you still."

"True. I guess I'm just anxious."

"No reason for you to be anxious. I'm with you as well and even I have nothing to fear from him."

"Be on the lookout anyway," Yuuta said, "you don't know what he might have planned. Like you said, he might lay a trap for us."

Maiko knocked and stuck her head into the room, "They're ready for you now."

Yuuta shoved the cypher into his desk, and locked the drawer. Nashima her eyes filled with the unspoken question.

"I'll explain later," he answered, rising from the desk. He picked up the black folder, which he handed to Aika. "Let's go."

They marched off, manoeuvring through the maze-like hallways, with Maiko leading the way. It did not take them long to walk into the territory of the Second.

The entered the large group office, and were greeted with silence. The five captains did not spare them more than a glance, and continued working. It was different from his section, where laughter often sounded. The atmosphere felt oppressive.

A short man left the Captain-Commandant's office, Yuuta recognised him as Fujii Dai, one of the eight Captains he had fought during his initiation. The man showed an odd toothy grin, before greeting them.

"Ah, Togashi-sama, Nara-sama is waiting for you. You may enter immediately," he gestured to the door.

Yuuta nodded at the man, and walked into the office.

* * *

He had those eyes again. She sighed in relief. They were going to be okay. No one could lay a thing in his path when he had those eyes.

She followed her commander into the small office, familiar, but not completely. In comparison to Yuuta's bare office, this one was decorated to the point of ridiculousness. The archive cabinets had been taken out, and had been replaced by giant antique closets. The curtains, a drab grey in their office, were satin and a blood red colour here. The desk was expertly carved, coloured white, and finished with golden decorations reminiscent of grape vines. The chair behind it was a massive thing, and equally decorated.

The only thing that did not show the wealth of the person occupying the office were the two chairs in front of the desk. Small chairs that reminded her of those she used to have in her middle school.

Her commander didn't care for chairs though. He strode up to the desk leaning on it, and towering over the blond man occupying the throne. She had felt that gaze on her, and was impressed that the man didn't flinch.

"Togashi Yuuta! You are as impressive as I have heard," the man said.

"What is this farce of you wanting to take some of my subordinates to fix your problems?" Yuuta asked, ignoring the man.

"Please, Togashi-san, sit. Would you like some tea or something?" The man said gesturing to the chairs.

She took that as her moment to approach, and sat herself down. The man only then seemed to notice her.

"I see you've brought Nashima-san as well," he turned to her, "would you like anything to drink?"

"I'm only here to accompany Togashi-sama," she said, blankly. She did not like this man, not after all the reports they'd gotten from Yamishita.

"Ah," he coughed, "well then. Let's discuss business."

Yuuta flicked his leg, moving the chair, and sat down in one fluid movement.

"Talk."

"Well," the man said, slightly showing how unnerved he was because of Yuuta's demeanour, "I simply need some soldiers to help my patrols. The Otherworldly creatures are plentiful, and we are unable to push them back as we should. I need more men."

"I will not put any of my men under your command, but I am willing to help you. Here are the conditions of my help."

She heard her queue, and pushed the black folder toward Nara. He raised an eyebrow, but settled back against his chair, opening the folder. His eyes started scanning the contract quickly, his eyebrows furrowing the further he got. Even before he finished the first page of the contract, he closed the folder and discarded it onto the desk in between them.

"You storm into my office, albeit on invitation, decline my hospitality, and decline putting your men under me, and yet you dare, dare, to ask this of me?" the man was not able to complete disguise his annoyance any longer. Yuuta was unnerved.

"Nara-san, you demanded my help. I refuse to give in to that demand, but have produced a counter offer that'll solve your issue. Be glad I'm willing to do that."

"Don't act like a petulant teenager. It's hypocritical of you to expect from me to sign over my whole Section if you refuse to hand over a few of your men. And not just that, you ask that this situation will persist until you deem that the situation is solved!" Nara raised his voice, "I'm not an idiot, no matter what you've heard from your little compatriots over in the Ninth. If I would give into this demand, you'd never give power back."

"That's true, I would not let these men suffer under your command anymore."

"Suffer? Simply because the patrols haven't been going well this period? I've been in this game a lot longer then you boy."

Yuuta smiled, "That might be true, but even someone as narcissistic as you must be aware of my connections. If your Section crumbles, I'll simply swoop it up afterward."

"Then why are you here?" Nara loses his patience, slamming his hands on the desk.

Yuuta rises from his chair. "Simply put? I was curious. Whether or not you give in to my demands now, this Section will follow my command one day. The only difference will be the leader. Either you give in now, and you may do what you wish in this office until I decide to discard you, or until you get discarded by the Majors." Yuuta shrugged, "I hardly care."

Nara chuckled. "Yes, I've heard of your involvement with the Nibutani family. I also know that neither of them would help you gain rank."

"Oh, that's not who I was talking about. I'm sure you've heard of my meeting with your former Commander. He spoke… lukewarm about you at best."

"You did not meet Major Renzo. I would have known if you did."

"And how would you? Has the honourable Nara-san been spying on me?" Yuuta mocked the man, driving him into a corner. Now came the most difficult part of the plan. Yuuta had not met with Renzo Jin. If Nara believed them, he would have to sign. If Nara didn't, their plan would fail.

"Boy, I would hardly dedicate the resources to spy on you and your cohorts," Nara tried to coax Yuuta into arguing with him.

"Well then, you can't know, now can you? Either way, I'm off. Think the contract over," Yuuta walked away, and stopped just before the door, "I expect an answer somewhere between now and tomorrow evening. If I do not receive it, I will operate on the conclusion that you decided to destroy your own Section."

* * *

Yuuta crumbled into his chair, sighing deeply.

"Are you okay?" Nashima asked.

"Yes. Yeah, I'm fine. Did I do okay? Do you think he'll agree?"

"I don't know. I don't think he liked us very much though."

"That, that I can agree on. Could you do me a favour?"

"You're my superior, I kind of have to," Aika joked.

Yuuta chuckled, "Could you send someone to get me some tea, I don't care what, and send someone to Nibutani Shinka asking if she could come by. Also see if Yamishita has anymore candidates ready to join our group. I need some more eyes and ears. We also have to figure out a way to intercept the payments Nara is making without giving ourselves away." Yuuta rubbed his forehead.

"Three of those things I can do right now. The others are a bit harder," she smiled. "You did good," she quickly said before leaving the office again.

Another sigh left him. It had taken quite a lot to not let his emotions reign him during that conversation. In a way, he hoped that Nara wouldn't sign the contract, so that he didn't have to deal with that snake anymore until he was ready to destroy him.

He had to figure out a way to have that same presence all the time, instead of just when he thought it was needed. People were becoming less and less impressionable by the day, probably because they see him stumble about here constantly. It drained him though. He had to become harder. Harder than steel.

He retrieved the cypher from his desk and looked over the structure Kazuma and Maiko decided on. It seemed to be based on a Vigenere cypher, with a transposition layered on top. Relatively easy to understand if you have the key, slightly more difficult without. At the very least they were smart enough to layer two encryption techniques.

The transposition was determined by the function y = 2x – 3. After that you would have to run the transposed code through a Vigenere cypher for which the keyword was one of 26 that would be determined by the first encrypted letter.

He would need to study these for a time before he knew them by heart. He also had to make sure both Walter got the same cypher so they could relay information to each other. He started studying the keywords, and practiced encoding some short messages.

When he heard a silent knock a little later, he simply said, "enter," expecting it to be Aika with their tea. He was surprised when he saw it was Manata who stuck his head through the door.

"Do you have a bit of time for me, Togashi-sama?"

"Sure," Yuuta smiled, sweeping the cypher under some of the clutter on his desk, acting like he was making some room on it. "What is it, Manata-san?"

"I wanted to know how your meeting with Nara-sama went," he closed the door behind him.

"Well, Nashima-san says it went well."

"You don't?" the man asked, as he sat in the chair on the opposite side of Yuuta.

"No. Well, maybe. I don't think we accomplished what we went there to do, but I do think I've learned something valuable."

"What did you learn then?"

"Manata-san, you asked me to keep you out all of this. Don't go prodding yourself."

The man coughed to hide his apparent embarrassment. "You're right off course Togashi-sama."

"Anything else I can help you with?" Yuuta asked.

"I hear you had a conversation with my old mentor. If I'd have known I'd have asked you to bring him my regards."

"Your old mentor? I hardly doubt you have an old mentor, Manata-san."

The man laughed softly. "Well, he's not technically older than me I guess. But he was my mentor when I first joined this temple a couple of decades ago."

"Who was it then, I might meet with him again," Yuuta asked.

"Renzo Jin-sama."

"The previous Captain-Commandant of the Second?" Yuuta questioned, his voice lowering, he felt his hand clenching into a fist on his desk.

"Yes yes, so, did you meet with him? Or are those rumours just a load of bollocks?"

"Manata-san, do you think I'm an idiot?" Yuuta's voice was silent, glowering.

"Why do you ask that, Togashi-sama?" the man seemed undisturbed.

"You spy for Nara, do you not?"

"You hear that from that blonde scribe?"

"I'm the one asking questions here!" Yuuta's voice thundered, his cropped emotions no longer in control.

Manata answered with a smile. "See, I knew you did not have such a tight rein on your emotions. You're after all a teenager."

"Manata. Tell me what you're involvement is with the Second."

"The Second? I'm involved with the temple, that is corrupt to its core."

"So you help the corruption?"

"No!" Manata looked astonished. "I help banish the corruption within the temple by aiding Nara-sama."

"What is this corruption you fight then?"

"Oh, you and the Takanashi family would be grand examples. Lording your power over us, keeping us small and tame, keeping us out of the loop."

"Manata, you're an idiot," Yuuta said, calming.

"Oh, and why is that?"

"Well, you shouldn't have revealed yourself to be a spy in the first place, nor should you have challenged me if your fear that I would 'lord' my power over you. Your beliefs in corruption are misplaced."

"You would have me believe that Nara is corrupt?" the man scoffed.

"Nara has been feeding money to the scribes and clerks of the central archives, to bring Renzo-san in discredit and take his place."

"Then he must believe Renzo is corrupt as well."

"Do you not see, Nara himself is after power. Did you see that throne the pompous prick uses?"

"He does not have the natural gift of power that you have, so he has to seem more powerful in more mundane ways, like money."

"Manata, I dismiss you from this temple."

The man laughed, "You can't do that."

"I can, and I just did. At the very least, I will throw you out of my section."

"And who would keep Nairo under control for you? He only listens to me."

Now it was Yuuta's turn to laugh, "Don't worry, I know how to keep Nairo at my heel for now, but since you no longer have a place here, I expect you to leave."

The man stood up, "Very well then. You'll still see me around though."

"I'm sure I will," Yuuta smiled slightly.

Manata left. Yuuta's mind started whirring into action. _Nara must have really wanted to know whether I spoke with Renzo or not, to reveal his spy so easily. He didn't seem that stupid though. He has someone else lurking somewhere, probably within the lower ranks, but high enough to not be informed of the kiting action the patrols are taking. I need to pay attention who I pull up to Captain rank._

"I can hear the gears in your head churning from outside," a woman's voice entered the room.

His smile brightened as he looked up to see the amber coloured eyes of Shinka, who was, just like him, still wearing a school uniform. "Well hello to my humble part of this complex."

She closed the door and walked over to him, "Why'd you call me out here, we could have met in my office."

"I had some work to do and I know you stay behind as long as I'm here, especially lately. Keeping an eye on me?"

"Naturally. I know what kind of things you're trying to accomplish. I kind of want to make sure you don't get yourself actually killed. You spoke with this… whatever his name was, the guy from the Second?"

"Yeah, he didn't break. Not that I expected him to, but hoping couldn't hurt."

"You are such an optimist."

"I guess I am."

'So, what now?" she asked.

"Now I wait. I gave him until tomorrow to answer."

"So, we're going home now?" she asked, her eyes sparkling happily. It wasn't that late yet so if they went home now, they'd be able to spend some more time together.

"In a minute. I need to get some orders prepared, finalise kicking out Manata, and promote one of the lieutenants to take his position."

"Manata? I thought you liked that old guy?"

"Turns out he works for Nara. He thinks you and your father are corrupting the temple and that Nara will cleanse it."

"His age must be catching up with him," she said, annoyance audible in her voice, "I could just completely kick him out of the temple, you know?"

"Don't, Nara seems to trust him, and I could use that."

"Fine."

Yuuta retrieved the cypher from underneath the stack of papers, as well as some empty black envelopes and folders. Quickly encrypting two orders for Kazuma, he then stuffed the cypher in his bag. Nibutani followed along, saw it was a cypher, shrugged and let him work for a second.

He then began writing the Manata's dismissal from his section, signed it, and moved it over to her. She raised her eyebrow but signed as well.

A knock came, and Aika entered, carrying three steaming cups of tea. "Nibutani-sama," she offered a cup to her first.

Nibutani graciously accepted. "Yuuta, you have until my tea is finished, then we're leaving."

"Yes, shogun-sama," he smiled.

She took the chair in the corner and sipped happily from her tea.

"Yuuta-san, Kazuma send two more," Aika announced. "He says they've been tested as well."

"Good good, get them in here, I need to get a messages out to him anyway."

"Are you just going to trust them?" Aika asked, looking surprised.

"Well, I trust Kazuma, and if Kazuma trusts them," Yuuta shrugged, "trust cascades, right? Either way I'm too tired and too pressed for time to test them myself."

Nashima called out, and two older men entered. _"What's with all the twins in this temple_,_"_ Yuuta thought as he regarded the men. Short cropped brown hair, and clean shaven, they both looked like some protagonist in a romantic comedy.

"Nuevo Zekaro," Aika pointed to the left man, "and Saropo Shigo."

"Wait, you guys aren't twins?" Yuuta asked, astonished.

"No, Togashi-sama, though we hear that quite a lot," Zekaro's voice was deep.

"We've been friends since middle school, and even then we looked alike," Shigo's voice was higher pitched, almost as if he'd been inhaling helium.

"Well, I trust Yamishita-san has explained why you are here?"

The men nodded.

"See Nashima-san, I don't have to tell them anything anymore."

Nashima scoffed, "yes, but this does mean that Yamishita-san is not following your orders anymore."

"He is, he is. I gave him a rather free rein." He turned toward the men. "Well, I trust you'll do your work well. Bring Kazuma these for me, will you?" Yuuta pushed two envelopes to them. They each grabbed one.

"Well? Off you go," Yuuta said good-naturedly. The men nodded.

"Thank you for trusting us," Zekaro said and then they left.

"Good, now that that has been taken care of, Aika, who of the lieutenants deserves a promotion?"

"Uhm… Narako Mishune would be next up, why?"

"Manata has been dismissed."

"Why?" her surprise grew. "I leave you for five minutes and you've been doing random things."

"No, Manata was Nara's spy."

"What?"

"Manata was Nara's spy."

"I heard you, I just have a hard time believing it."

Yuuta was already filling in the promotion papers, he could recall Narako Mishune's name from the personnel files. He signed,

"Well, he's gone now, and he isn't coming back here soon. Shinka, could you sign this for me when your tea is finished?" he asked the girl in the corner. He got a nod as answer.

"Aren't you acting rash right now?" Nashima asked, "I've seen you mull over decisions for hours at times, and now you're just doing things."

"Well, impulsivity can be good once in a while."

"Fine. You're the Captain-Commandant," she sighed.

Nibutani walked back over, and put her empty cup down. Snatching Yuuta's pen from his hand, she signed the document he put down.

"Wow, you must have really poured that cup down your throat," Yuuta said, glancing at his untouched cup of tea.

"Yes, and we're leaving now," the girl said.

"I did promise that, didn't I… alright, alright, let me gather my stuff."

"I'll wait for you at the door of the slightly bigger office next to this one, I need to get my stuff too," and she trotted off.

Yuuta shook his head slightly. "Any way, Aika," he picked up the second folder containing the cypher, "here's the cypher for the network. Learn by heart then destroy. Make a copy and giver Walter the same instructions."

She nodded.

"And give this," he handed his steaming cup back to her, "to Shoichi."

She smiled, "Want me to make a sarcastic comment as well?"

"If you can." Yuuta snickered.

"No problem. I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Yes, hopefully by that time we'll have heard of our friends."

* * *

**Author's Notes**

Hi! I'm back! It's been two months? More like three. Uhm, so this chapter was originally more then ten thousand words long, and then I decided to cut it apart into multiple chapters on advice of some of my friends. That does mean you're getting two more chapters in the very near future. They are in fact done for the biggest part. I'm working on chapter 15 already, and I'll try to get that done by the time I'm done posting these three that came from the huge amalgamate of a chapter that existed before I ripped it into three parts. A slight notice for those reading this, this story is **M-rated**, and it will start earning that rating in the coming chapters. Just for those not paying attention. Either way, leave a review with your thoughts, I'd love to read them. And as always

Thanks for watching


	15. 13: Life As We Will Remember It

**13: Life As We Will Remember it**

They walked through a park. Yuuta had not wanted to take a car, he wanted to be free of the temple for a bit. She could understand, he had been working ridiculously hard for something he was doing for her.

They had been walking in a comfortable silence, just holding hands, enjoying that they were not alone. The evening hadn't turned into the night cold yet, so even though her legs were bare aside from a thin pair of long stockings, she wasn't wearing the dark blue blazer that was part of her uniform.

Yuuta walked beside her, carrying their bags, like a real gentleman. She might be stronger than him and his superior, that did not mean she didn't want to be pampered.

_"__He knows that, he knows me inside out_,_"_ her thoughts went, colouring her cheeks crimson, _"well, almost inside out."_

He didn't notice the blush on her face. He was pondering something, his eyebrows had been set in that same pensive position since they had left the temple half an hour earlier. Still, as he knew her, she knew him. She knew she didn't have to worry about him just yet. If his brooding persisted for another hour, then she should start worrying.

She suddenly realised she was staring at his face, and a puzzled look had overthrown the pensive one from just moments earlier. She quickly placed a kiss on his lips to hide her embarrassment.

He chuckled softly, and his voice followed that same volume, "You do know you don't have to get embarrassed every time you look at me, right? I know you're the big bad boss of the temple, but here, there's no one to judge you."

She scoffed, her cheeks still coloured red, "Like I care what those idiots think, none of them would ever be able to put anything in my way."

"Still, just like me, you act differently in the context that is the temple than just outside here with me," he said, as his eyebrows started lowering back into their previous position.

She grabbed his arm with her two hands, dropping her blazer, and slung him around. He stumbled until he fell with his back against a tree. She took the two steps needed to close the distance between them and pushed him up against the tree, pressing herself against him.

He responded immediately, his arms slipped around her, keeping her where she was. Their lips quickly found each other with a need, as if they were more important than food or water. She didn't lose herself completely in the sensation of him, as they were in public, _"but oh how good it must feel if I just gave in," _her thoughts raced.

She was considering it. She never had those thoughts before, but this was the second time she was achingly close to giving in. Her knees shook, and he made use of the momentary weakness to turn the roles around.

He pushed himself against her, and she let him. His kisses starting wandering, tickling her neck. She couldn't hold it any longer and a soft moan slipped through her wet lips. He grunted in response. She bit slightly in his neck, making him break contact with her soft skin for a moment. They panted heavily.

He straightened, the glaze in his green eyes fading. She herself wasn't coming back yet. This was going too far, too easily, and she couldn't even blame him. She focused on calming down. Her heartrate lowered, the heat was leaving her face and strength returned to her legs. She straightened as well, leaving the support of the tree and his arms behind.

She opened her eyes and instead of seeing her grinning boyfriend, looking embarrassed over losing his control, she saw her boyfriend in perfect control, scanning the environment. She looked quizzically up at him.

He put a single finger to her lips, to make sure she kept silent, with that same finger he tapped his forehead and then gestured for her to open her senses. She listened, spreading her consciousness to sense others. She didn't feel anything out of particular. People moving up and down the trail, people speeding around in cars or on cycles, small critters like mice and chipmunks.

She opened her mouth to ask what he was sensing, but then she noticed something odd. A large group of people was trekking toward them, spread out throughout the park. Two larger groups of about fifteen to twenty-five people were walking toward them using the path, and five, no six groups of four to five people were walking through the forest.

Yuuta's brow had lowered while she had been scanning the area. He had noticed the danger before her. "Who do you think it is?" his voice came, silent, close to her ear.

"I don't know, I might be a target for a lot of groups," she whispered back.

"I don't think they're here for you, at least not specifically. A scout spotted us while… a while ago, that's how they're closing us in. Do you sense anyone particularly strong?"

"No, but most of the stronger ones can hide their strength, so that doesn't mean anything."

A voice cracked through their whispering, "Well, well, well, if it isn't the cute little teenagers that think they know so much," the voice scathed. Yuuta protectively put himself between her and the source of the voice.

"Manata. Why, and how are you here?"

The man cackled. "Poor boy, I know your urges have caught up to you and that filthy slut, but use your thinker box for-" The rest of that sentence did not leave his mouth, as Yuuta fist whipped around and slammed his jaw shut.

The man stumbled, but didn't buckle. "Use your thinker box for a second, you fucking prick!" he finished.

Yuuta was enraged, but through his clenched teeth he managed to speak. "This was Nara's plan all along wasn't it? If I didn't agree to his terms, he would try to clean me up."

"Yes, and now, both you and your harlot will suffer a quiet and unseemly death. I do so apologise that you were never able to take her to your bed, but don't worry we will all show her a really good time before we cut her pretty little throat." Laughing echoed through the trees as Manata's compatriots started appearing.

Yuuta was trying to coil his rage. She could see him trying. She knew he wouldn't succeed. Anger was his biggest weak point. He was smart, and picked up things at breakneck speed, but when he was enraged all those things faded. They were doing this on purpose.

"_There has to be an out," _she thought, _"they are with too many to take care of easily, even by us. We're encircled, and more of them are approaching."_ She let out a yelp, as she felt a hand caress her hip. She had never seen someone move so fast in the real world as Yuuta did at that moment.

A sickening crack sounded behind her as Yuuta's fist whipped around her, narrowly not hitting her. He stood in front of her again. A heavy thud a single second later, as well as the silence of the person that touched her made her conclude that either the man was unconscious or he was dead.

He cupped her chin, the anger flaring in his eyes softened by being near her. He kissed her softly. "I'm sorry I dragged you into this," he whispered, she could see that he knew they weren't going to just escape, and that their lives were at a real risk here, it had al clicked in his mind.

"I'm sorry too," she whispered back, knowing that they might be the last words they spoke to each other.

He turned, "Manata! We might not come out of this alive, but be assured, the bell tolls for you today. And that is a certainty. Vanishment this world!" his voice ripped through the surroundings, and black overtook them.

* * *

With luck, they had been transported to an area flanked by a high cliff side. She wanted to take control of the situation but, "Shinka, back against that rockwall, summon your spear, but use your crossbows," his voice commanded.

He himself still stood between her and the enemies, but in the slight instant that they'd passed dimensions, he had already summoned his weapons. Ganjouna twirled tiny circles, gripped tightly in his right hand, while he had a reverse grip on Shirobuchi, which stuck out like a sheening metal ridge across his forearm.

"I'm stronger than you, I should take front lines," she yelled back.

Manata started cackling again, "Would you look at that, a lover's quarrel, isn't that sweet boys?"

The man surrounding them laughed, but she didn't. Yuuta had glanced over his shoulder, she had seen pure, uncontrolled rage dancing through them. He kept his mana output low but she knew. He wasn't crippled by Ganjouna at that moment. Rage had unlocked his power faster than all the sparring they could have ever done.

"Stay behind me," his mouth moved, but no sound left.

She nodded. She knew he was right. At range he wasn't worth a whole lot, but still she didn't want him to die. She shook her head. _Focus… focus…, _she calmed herself. Quickly moving to the wall, she summoned her beloved spear and stabbed it into the ground, taking position right behind it, she summoned the twin crossbows she used to attack at range. Arrows shining green from her mana crackled into their slots.

"We gave them enough prep time, don't you think? Slaughter them," Manata signalled. As one, the men shouted, some simply for the sound, other shouting profanity, and stormed toward them.

It flowed over her. She raised her arms, as Yuuta lowered into position, Ganjouna still twirling restlessly. Her magic bolts loosed, as did her boyfriend.

With a single bound, he was right in front of one, his longsword arched through the air, the tip whistling. An arm tumbled through the air. The shout turned to a scream.

Her bolts hit, one ripping open the abdomen of one of the pigs in front of her, the other penetrating a shoulder, dragging that one to the ground as well.

* * *

Yuuta kicked the now one-armed man before him in his stomach, launching him into some that were behind him. He caught a blade with Shirobuchi, and blocked a strike from an axe with Ganjouna. Shifting his weight, he let the man on his left tumble past him, and with a quick flick of his wrist Shirobuchi cleanly cut his windpipe.

He heard another salvo loosen from Nibutani, followed by a disgusting squelch as a man's head exploded. Another tumbled down as his knee was removed from his leg.

He twirled round, slamming back the men that were trying to surround him. He took a step back toward Nibutani, cleaving at a man's shoulder while doing so. His sword lodged in between the man's shoulder and neck. He pulled back, and with a spray of blood another man tumbled down.

This brought him off balance. He was a moment too slow in pulling back completely and receive a cut to his leg. It wasn't serious but, he would tire quickly if he kept receiving even these shallow cuts.

Another crack sounded through the air, followed by an explosion. The torso of a man flew through the air and hit one of the advancing adversaries in his side. He moved into the distraction, flowing past three men.

A leg, a head and some intestines dropped to the ground, followed by the bodies of the men the belonged to. The man whose leg he cut didn't want to die just yet, and slammed the axe he was holding right into his back. His hipbone caught most of the impact, but the wound was deep. His sword snaked through the air, and a shout turned into gasps for air.

The ground shook, and he could see a massive blast of unrefined mana rip toward the men, one of them charged in, and slammed a tower shield down. The blast pushed him back but he remained unscathed beside that.

He gritted his teeth. Ripping them apart that way would have worked, but he knew they had to have been prepared for that. Two arrows ripped past the tower shield, taken two of the protected men down nevertheless.

They were whittling their numbers down, but their numbers would soon start drowning them. He shook with anger for his stupidity. He was going to get her killed. He had to protect her. He tried to refocus on the men in front of him. His defence on auto pilot had only worked because these guys were not used to fighting together, but they were learning to spread apart further, giving each other more room, and he was starting to get pressed.

He left his defensive position and struck out. Ganjouna whistled through the air, ripping someone's chest open, and Shirobuchi drilled into someone abdomen. He twisted the boken, and pulled it out, letting the insides become the outsides. Immediately, the others stepped over their defeated comrades and tried to make most of his position.

He dropped low, dodging under two strikes but a third caught him on his arm. He slashed outward, separating a shin and a knee.

He had not heard Nibutani's bows anymore in the meantime. He twisted trying to see her, they were slowly being separated. She had been forced to take up her spear, and it whirled around constantly, whipping out left and right. She was being overwhelmed though, and bleeding from a cut to her shoulder.

He pushed toward her, his swords ripping through the men separating them. Cut after cut landed as he abandoned defence altogether. Men fell and got replaced, the situation seemed hopeless. A sword sliced open her side, earning the man a spear through his throat.

She wasn't able to rip it free. One of the men had grabbed the bloodied shaft. She let go of the weapon, and summoned another weapon, but it was too late. A club took the side of her head. She was dazed. The men grabbed her. He screamed her name, his swords amputating, decapitating all around him. Bleeding from dozens of wounds, he screamed her name.

Her bloodied, ripped shirt, was grasped tightly by one of the men, ripping the already weak fabric completely off her.

Yuuta's vision coloured red. He barely heard her scream his name. He stopped moving, time seemed to stop moving. He could see the lust and hunger in the men ripping at her clothes, their hands moving toward her flesh, toward her other clothes. He could see the anguish in her eyes. His hands started moving automatically.

He started pouring every single drop of mana he had into his longsword, dropping the white blade.

He screamed a wordless scream that contained everything. His anger, his own anguish, his control, his power, his weakness.

Red turned to white, as he slammed the sword into the ground with all his might.

The world shattered.

* * *

**Author's Notes  
**

I have returned with the next chapter! This one is a bit shorter (the shortest of the three) but I'm happy with how it turned out. I've read it through a couple of times, when fixing mistakes and such over the past months, and this part has really grown on me. It was something different to write, something a bit less on the beaten path, I think. It was fun. I also noticed that I ended my last note with "Thanks for watching." My youtube channel has corrupted me. I'd like to hear what you all think off the chapter/story so far, so leave a review if you can! I always love hearing from you guys! And as always

Thanks for reading


	16. 14: A Torch To The Past

**14: A Torch To The Past**

He woke up.

"Welcome."

He recognised the voice. It was the voice that gave him advice, the voice that talked to him in his dreams. He was in his room again.

"Don't worry, you can move from the bed now."

He tested it, by twisting to where the voice came from. He saw himself. At least almost.

"You must have a lot of questions," the man said, with almost his voice.

"Where am I, and how do I get back? I need to help Nibutani."

"You are in your subconscious, at least a place similar to it. Don't worry about Shinka, she's safe."

"How do you know?!" Yuuta yelled.

"Calm down," the man smiled softly, his weary eyes sparkling with amusement slightly. "Watch," he waved toward the window, where the seamless grey twisted in on itself, showing the world out of his own eyes.

"Watch," the man repeated, "I will take care of this."

* * *

White spilled from the place where she last saw Yuuta. An ear deafening sound rippled through the air, and suddenly the white expanded outward, as fast as light moves.

She could hear the men around her scream, and then turn silent as the white washed over her, draped her, caressed her. Her wounds healed instantly, her fatigue was gone.

And so was the white.

Not a single cough arose from the men that had surrounded her. They had decayed in the white light. The bones started tumbling against each other as the skeletons were no longer held up by muscles and flesh.

She glanced around, looking for Yuuta. Somewhere in the tussle when one of those swines had ripped of her shirt, she got turned around. They were still surrounded, but none of the people moved.

Her eyes found… him. She ran toward him, standing in the centre of the quiet bubble.

"Yuuta?"

"Well… yes and no," the man's weary eyes focused on her. She could see them soften just as Yuuta's had done. The uncoiled, hot burning rage that had danced in Yuuta's eyes was still there too, but different. It was cold, seething anger. A coiled viper would shrink away from those eyes. "He'll be glad to know you're okay. Here," he absently waved a hand, making a black jacket appear around her body.

She studied him. No matter how she looked at him, he was Yuuta, but not Yuuta. Taller by several inches, as was his hair, which was tied in a messy tail. Both Ganjouna and Shirobuchi hung in scabbards at his left hip, and his back was adorned with a massive sword. It's sheath, consisting of two halve cylinders, was tied together with all sorts of scrap cloth.

Yuuta's uniform was replaced by a long black overcoat, the hood lined with grey fur, and held in place by silver grey belt buckles. Underneath that, she only recognised heavy black boots.

"How can you both be him and not be him?"

"Well, I am him, but he is not me… yet," his eyes were scanning the crowd around them. Manata came pushing through.

She knew. It started clicking in her head. Yuuta being a late bloomer, his incredible latent power, his knowledge, his growth rate, and everything else that made him such an amazing Ability User. He was the Original. He was the Dark Flame Master.

* * *

He turned from the young girl when he saw that she was making the connections and focused on the old man that he knew was the leader of this group of worthless pawns.

"Good evening filth," the words scathed, as he started approaching the man.

"Yuuta-kun, you don't think that you'll be able to beat us, do you? You may have just taken out some of us, but now you must have near enough no power left."

The man was weak. He was smart, but he was weak. He should never come out into the open like this. He didn't respond but stopped in his marching.

"See. You aren't going to be able to scare us away!" the man started cackling again.

He could feel the other him press him, push him, he wanted that man's blood. He just laughed. Not a hearty, happy laugh. It was the laugh of death.

The cackling stopped. "TAKE HIM DOWN!" the old man yelled, and once more the men charged.

A shrill metallic ring echoed through the air as Ganjouna left it's scabbard. He swung. Purple lighting crackled from the point of the sword. The tower shield wielders moved up to catch the magic attack.

A crooked smile appeared on other Yuuta's face.

The area was suddenly surrounded by a cacophony of sound.

The loud crack of wood, as the shields exploded from being overcharged.

The screams of men as they saw their friends get ripped to shreds by the lighting.

The splatter of blood and other liquids as torsos, arms, heads, legs, intestines, hearts, liver, stomachs and all the rest gets separated from the body they belong to.

The thuds of body parts as they fall on the ground.

And just as quickly the sound ended. The smell of blood hung thick in the air. The girl was covered in it from her earlier fight, and so was he, although that was not his fight. But the older men was doused in it.

Thick blood from his men stuck to him, dripped of him slowly. His mouth hung open, his eyes couldn't believe the sight. He stumbled to his knees.

Other Yuuta approached him.

"Who are you?" the man whispered.

"Your worst nightmare." He gently placed the tip of Ganjouna against the man's chest.

"I now beckon and beseech

For your soul to reach

To imprison it in my mind

To rip it from you and your kind

Death is but the sweet relief

That you will not achieve."

The man squealed for a solid minute, twisting in agony against the point of the sword, but not able to pull away. His eyes rolled up, and his body died, withering away in an instant.

The girl had remained silent. He could read the shock in her eyes, but she had impressive control over herself.

"Since it's become too late to hide, you two can now ask questions. I'll answer them if I can, while I try to earth myself in the ground."

"Why must you earth yourself?" she asked.

"Because this body is not strong enough to keep me here yet, not without destroying it."

"And why do you have to stay?"

"Because if I don't we will all die within the hour."

* * *

"Die?" Shinka didn't look impressed, "I thought you handled that just now?" She kicked against the skull of one of the vaporized enemies.

"I handled this rabble, but there approach those that will not be so easily defeated," the Master said, absently he waves his hand, and the carnage around them rippled out of existence. "That's better," he says to himself, sitting down on the ground in lotus position. He smiles at her as he pats the ground in front of him, but the cold anger still seethes in his eyes.

She sits across from him, so that the ripped clothe that is her skirt would still cover up most of what it should. "Who are you exactly?" she asks him.

"A minute, if you would." He held his eyes closed, she could feel the world breathe with him, as if his heartbeat was the drum of life. He extended a hand, and drew a small magic circle in the dirt beside them.

"SHINKA! Thank whatever it is that governs the universe that you're alive!" Yuuta called out.

She blinked. She was not really confused, but still, there were two Yuuta's in front of her now. She reached out to the younger one, but her hand passed right through him.

"I'm a sort of illusion," he shrugged.

"Younger Yuuta, could you tell her what I've told you already? I need to focus."

"Of course Elder Yuuta."

The older Yuuta shook his head as he closed his eyes.

"Alright, Yuuta, I need explanations," Shinka immediately asked.

"Well, you remember that Rikka and you explained me some about the Dark Flame Master, how he was beaten, and killed 16 years ago. About when we three were born?"

"Yes."

"Well you were right. The Dark Flame Master that existed then was destroyed. Ground to bits even. But more precisely, his body was destroyed."

"So? Destroy the body, destroy the person," Shinka concluded.

"Well, no. You see, the Dark Flame Master, he over there, is still alive. Seventeen years ago, an Ability User predicted his death. He had lived for over a 1500 years at that point, and he couldn't believe that he would be killed. He trusted the person who created, or foretold, this prophecy and got to work on preventing it."

"If it was a prophecy, how would he be able to prevent it?"

"He couldn't, if that wasn't obvious, but we'll get to that part."

"Sure. Continue the story."

"So seventeen years ago, he went looking for his genetically closest offspring, and found it in my mom. She was unable to conceive. He made her and my father the offer to make her fertile, in exchange for the usage of their first born son as a vessel."

"You."

"Me. My father apparently knew him from before that point, so he readily agreed. My mom always wanted kids so she jumped on the chance, after father convinced her that he is a good person."

"The Dark Flame Master a good person?"

"Later, let me finish this part first. Anyway, he used his powers and made my mother fertile. My parents conceived me a week later, and he returned."

"Creepy."

"Could you stop interrupting me for a second? I do agree, but still."

She nodded.

"He manipulated the DNA of the child to match his perfectly which was only possible because we were a close match from the start. He then infused me with as much of my power as he possibly could, sealing it away as completely as possible as well, to make sure my powers wouldn't awaken before my body was strong enough to contain them."

"When would that be?"

"When he stopped aging. At 21."

She wanted to say something, but he raised his hand to quiet her.

"Beside the point for now. By infusing his powers into me like that, he made me a well for his power, he could still use it, but at great strain on his physical stamina. It was the that he met Takanashi Touka. She was physically our age, but even then the age slowing had already settled in. She was actually 19 then."

"That means she has been becoming older faster lately."

"Yes, it does. You see, he fell in love with her. She was a strong, smart and beautiful Ability User. They started going steady three months after meeting. Six months before I was born. Touka's father was a genius scientist who worked for the Organisation. Four months before I was born, he and his wife, Touka's mother, conceived their second child. Rikka.

From here on, it starts going downhill for him. You see, their father had found the body of the last Wicked Eye, a stigma he accidentally created when he tried to save the first girl he ever loved, when he was as old as us, before he had proper control over his powers. Their father wanted to benefit from the power that the stigma yielded, as it could turn the tide of a war between Ability Users."

Yuuta's voice grew in volume a bit, he strained as he kept speaking, "So, he had the marvellous idea of planting the stigma into Rikka. While the Dark Flame Master was having a lovely time with Touka, he could feel that someone was manipulating the stigma. It was still a part of his power, and he could recognise the unique energy signature from the other side of the world."

Yuuta paused. He swallowed deeply. "He moved as quickly as he could, abandoning his clothes and a bare Touka as he rushed to where he felt the signature. He arrived too late. He had summoned some clothes while sprinting through the streets, and stumbled into the building.

The first floor was full of goons of the Organisation, but none dared step into his path when he embraced his power. Even if he had to pull from me, he was still so strong. He pushed through, ascending to the third floor of the building.

He could hear nothing on this floor sole for a steady dripping noise, and soft laughing. He walked onward, slamming open the door of the room where he had felt the signature last. He stopped right there in the doorway. The woman he had shared dinners with was laying on a table, her abdomen ripped open, as if whatever had been inside had exploded outward. Her breaths came only haltingly. Blood dripped from the shreds of skins that hung over the table sides.

The man he had shared dinners with didn't seem to care, he was laughing softly, staring intently at the golden globe that floated above the cavity in his wife's stomach. A grotesquely malformed foetus floated in that globe, the skull fully formed around only a single golden irised eye, the rest of the body futilely left behind.

The woman noticed me first. Tears were falling in the rhythm of her blood, between her short, ragged breaths, she whispered a single word. 'Help.'"

Yuuta was in a trance now, it was as if he himself was remembering the events. As far as she knew, that might as well be possible.

"He called out the name of that bloody genius scientist, who only then noticed he was there. 'Look Yuuta, isn't she perfect?' the man gestured at the floating… thing. He was disgusted. He now recognized that same thing in the man he had once experienced, a long time before then. Insanity.

He stepped forward, and in one breath, as well summoned a weapon, as cleaved the man from his head to his crotch in one fell swoop. The guts, brain, and rest of the man adding to the carnage already on the floor. He kicked the remains away, and stood next to the table.

'Help,' she said once more.

'I can't heal this,' he told her.

'Please,' her voice came softly, 'help her.'

His heart broke once more right then. The woman did not care for her own life, only for that of her daughter.

'I can temporarily fix this. I can reverse the deformations, and replant the foetus into you. I can then link the power of the Wicked Eye to your body, to keep it alive until you've carried her to full term. You will die the moment they cut the umbilical cord though. And she will have to keep the stigma for the rest of her life.'

The woman nodded. He closed his eyes for a second, to focus to link to me deeper, to dive into the well he'd made. Power surged in him, and he poured it into the two half living beings in front of him. An hour passed before he was finally finished. He collapsed. The sword still in his hand clattered onto the ground, he fell over as well. His breath came in short slurs, physical exhaustion catching up with him.

Bright blue eyes peered at him from the bed. Tears were still falling from them.

'Make sure someone seals away as much of her memory as they can. She will remember this event if they don't.'

'What the fuck happened here Yuuta?' an angry voice called from the door, he turned his head to see the red eyes flurry around the room. A sword at his hand, her father cleaved in two, her mother obviously in distress, and she made her own conclusions.

He was too tired to speak anymore, and he couldn't stop her either. His body refused to move. He closed his eyes, not wanting to see the pain and hurt in those eyes who just hours earlier looked at him like you look at me. Only a moment later he felt his own blade pierce his heart."

Nibutani was silent. _"What the hell am I supposed to say now?"_ She thought.

"The prophecy had fulfilled itself. By trying to prevent it, he had become too exhausted to prevent his own death."

His green eyes seemed to refocus, "I'm sorry… not everything there was necessary for you to know. Any questions?"

"How come Touka's aging has sped up?"

"I'm not sure. He hypothesized that she tried to either heal her father even then in her panic, or that she tried to heal her mother when Rikka was born. Healing the dead is impossible, but healing dead Ability Users works differently. An Ability User can survive severe wounds because of his power, when you try to heal a dead Ability user, you're trying to jumpstart their mana cores.

At the moment of death though, the mana core becomes a sort of black hole, that siphons power from you. Do it for too long a time, and you own core will start suffering, eventually resulting in the loss of some, if not all, of your powers."

"I don't actually know why it happened though, for you see, I was dead at the time."

"You ok to stay now?" Yuuta turned to his other half, who just spoke up.

"I'll be okay enough to defend you this time."

"This time?"

"I don't know if they'll leave us be after this, nor do I know whether breaking the seal now will kill us. Him receiving training is helping a lot in keeping this body intact."

"Will he die if you keep using it?" worry creased her brow.

"Not immediately. He'll start noticing that some of the physical alterations that happen when I'm forced to take over will stop reversing. This will start a deterioration process where slowly our organs will stop being able to function, or shift in place and things like that. He'll become very ill, and then he'd die. As soon as the process begins it is irreversible."

"Then why did you take over? I mean, if he dies, you die as well. And why are you staying if this is true?"

"I'm to blame for that, I mean, that he took over… you see, I went a bit overboard. I tried to use more of my power than the seal allowed to seep out, and I forced him to take over. Good thing I did though, else we'd be dead right now!" Yuuta interjected.

"And I'm staying, because the two Takanashi sisters are coming here. And you two might be strong, but even in her weakened state, Touka could rip you to pieces," the other one added.

Her head was drowning in everything she was discovering. Her boyfriend, her first boyfriend, the most powerful and evil Ability User to ever exist, hunted by the most powerful one of the Organisation as well a girl carrying the stigma of his first lover.

"They'll be here very soon. Any last questions?" the Dark Flame Master asked.

"Why does Touka still hate you? Didn't her mother tell her about what happened?"

"Like younger me said, I was not able to heal her. I brought her back from the brink of death to carry Rikka to full term. During that period, she suffered every single minute of every single day. By linking her with the stigma, all the memories of the previous holders of the Wicked Eye started flooding in to her. She didn't have to mental nor physical strength to resist them.

She was tortured by her own mind. I suspect that she was unable to speak, maybe even move because of the pressure of it invading her mind. I don't even know if she was able to convey the message that she had to get Rikka's memories sealed, I only know that the girl is alive and well because I've been observing you all from his eyes," he pointed to the other Yuuta, that had started becoming transparent.

"Say goodbye for now you two. They're here."

* * *

"Togashi Yuuta, in the flesh. Haven't seen you since I pierced you heart with that blade on your back," Touka called out.

He stood up, followed by the girl, Shinka, who took up a place at his flank.

"Touka. I hope you've been well these past years?"

"Like you care! You took advantage of my feelings, and killed my parents!"

"I killed you father, yes, but I saved your sister's life as did I give your mother several more months to live," he answered, his voice taking a tired quality.

"My mother was in shock of the brutal murder of the man she loved! She didn't speak a word nor moved the rest of those pitiful months she carried my younger sister!"

Rikka stood beside her sister, quiet. The headaches were back. Her sister had called the man Yuuta, but he didn't look like Yuuta. Maybe a bit. But he looked like someone else more, someone soft and kind. She shook her head, hardening her resolve. Her sister needed her help.

"It doesn't matter what I tell you anymore does it? The hurt that your own story inflicted has clouded that rational mind I once loved. Still even, but this is hardly the place for such sentiments."

The scythe appeared. Her sister's scythe. Black, blacker and even blacker. The thing was only infused with colour at its bevels. A blood red colour.

"Do you really think you can beat me? Last time it wasn't really a fair fight, was it?" the man asked.

"I can beat you! You're not strong enough to be here, not yet. You'll die once and for all now. Like my parents did at your hands!"

The man sighed audibly. "I don't want to kill you, so I hope you don't mind that I'll be going easy on you?" metal hissed as the two blades at his hip left their scabbards.

Rikka recognised them. They were Yuuta's Shirobuchi and Ganjouna. The headache worsened.

"Rikka, keep the Nibutani girl away from us. If it becomes necessary, don't hesitate to kill her, though prevent that if you can."

"Yes sister," Rikka responded, summoning her axe. _"No holding back this time."_

Apparently the man had the same idea, because with a flash, the spear she knew was her rival's prized possession showed up. They moved away from their respective partners, who patiently waited until they were gone.

They were only just out of sight, and a massive shockwave ripped over the ground, sending both girls tumbling to the ground.

Rikka felt fear. She knew her sister's strength. A strength to match her had shown up. If they'd been closer, they had been ripped apart by that single strike.

She ran, with all her might she ran, increasing the distance between that horrifying power and her. Her rival followed. Her face was blank, white as the snow.

Several miles later they both skidded to a halt. Thunder roiled in the distance, or rather magic did. She focused on the girl panting in front of her though. She had a mission from her sister.

"Why are you supporting him?" she asked to give herself some respite.

"I love him. Even now, I still can't deny that. Besides, he hasn't done anything that makes him seem evil to me yet."

"He killed my parents!" Rikka shouted. She hadn't know he was to blame for it until just then, but it fed her anger.

"He killed your father, who almost killed you!" the girl responded.

"And you believe him when he tells you this crap?"

"He didn't. Yuuta did."

"YUUTA DOESN'T EXIST YOU DUMB WENCH!" Rikka charged, she had enough. She wanted it to end.

The girl in front of her was strong, they were equals in many ways, but right here, right now, Rikka was going to beat her down into the dirt. Even if she had to cut some bits of the bitch.

* * *

"_She's not listening," _Nibutani thought. _"She might be right though, how do I know if what Yuuta knows is the truth?"_

Her spear twirled deflecting a strike from the axe. She slammed the butt off her spear into the side of the girl she was fighting. She caught the strike with her arm.

"Why is that you don't believe us?" she asked, silently.

"I believe my sister over you fake people any day," the girl glowered, sweeping with her axe.

Shinka back stepped, and lashing out with her spear, aiming for the side of Rikka's head. Rikka disengaged, and the girls created some distance in between them.

"I understand that you want to believe your sister, but you look just as confused as me," Nibutani said.

"I'm not confused, everything is perfectly clear to me," Rikka pointed with her axe toward where the flashes of light and thunderous sound originated. "He killed my father, and mentally destroyed my mother, until she finally died giving birth to me. AND YOU, you support that monster."

"I believe him over your sister. What's the difference between us? We're just caught up in the fight between those two. Why do we have to fight?"

"You're not talking me out of this. My sister asked me to defeat you, and I will do just that!"

"So you're just a willing slave to your sister?" she raised her spear again.

"As are you a willing slave of the Master!"

They charged again.

* * *

She panted. She was nearing the end of her strength. They were too even. The fight had lasted too long already.

Rikka panted as heavily as she did, using her axe as a support during the lull in their struggle.

"You're not bad, you bitch…"

"Rikka, I'll be honest. When I first came to know you, I disliked you. A lot. But I thought we were becoming friends. What happened?"

"My sister opened my eyes."

"This sister?" A voice called out from the side.

The Dark Flame Master stood there, a limp body hauled over his shoulder. She had been so absorbed into the fight she hadn't noticed the distant rumbling had quieted.

He gently put the woman down.

"Touka!" Rikka's exhaustion seemingly disappeared, she charged toward the man, anger filling the air as her voice ripped through her throat.

Nibutani tried to move, but she was too tired. The day had been too much. She knew Rikka wouldn't survive if he lashed out with his power.

The man caught her axe easily. "I'm really sorry I have to do this," he said. The blade he caught shattered to bits. Rikka stumbled forward when suddenly her weight wasn't held in place anymore.

He grabbed her head, made a single hand sign and shouted, "Release!"

The girl stumbled further onto the ground, her eyes closed. Unconscious.

"What did you do to her?" Shinka asked.

"I released the seal on her memories," he sighed.

"Why? You yourself said they had to be sealed!"

"It's the only way I can prevent them from hunting you down. It's what we wanted to achieve. As long as you are around me, you'll be in danger. I simply defused a single landmine."

"Won't she suffer just like her mother now?"

"No. The memories will trickle back, from the very start of the Eye, to now. She won't be overwhelmed."

"What about you? I mean, what about the other you?"

"He will experience the same. My memories will start flooding into him even stronger than before. Don't worry though, he'll be able to handle it. We're more mature then we look. But listen for a second, my time is almost run out.

Transport them back to the real world, and call one of your contacts in the Organisation to come pick them up. Make sure you're gone before they arrive and take my body with you. He will be confused for a bit when he returns. Take care of him." His flesh started bubbling.

She nodded. "I understand. Anything else?"

As bones snapped in his body, as he started shrinking, growing younger again, "Don't tell him I said this, but, he feels the same for you as I felt for the first girl I loved. He will never allow you to leave his side."

She smiled. Typical Yuuta. The most serious situations are happening and he says something stupid like that. "I'll keep it a secret."

Very briefly a smile showed on the face of the amalgamation between the Master and her Yuuta. Then he as well dropped to the ground.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

This was supposed to be out some time ago, but FanFiction had some issues, at least for me. They seem to be fixed, therefore, chapter! I don't have much to say about this one. I'd really like to hear what you guys think though.

Thank you for reading


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